Systems and methods for managing access to information relating to locate and/or marking operations

ABSTRACT

A holistic approach to management and oversight of locate and marking operations is provided. Initial requests to perform such operations are improved, and such requests are intelligently assessed to appropriately allocate resources to perform operations. Technicians are effectively dispatched and may be provided with process guides to facilitate performance. A host of information regarding the performance of locate operations and their environs is acquired (e.g., via improved intelligent instrumentation employed by technicians). A quality of operations (e.g., completeness, accuracy, efficiency) is assessed, corrective actions may be taken in essentially real-time as necessary, and information regarding operations and their quality assessments is archived for auditing purposes. Relevant information is communicated to one or more parties associated with the operations; in particular, requesting parties are apprised of the status of ongoing operations, and given confirmation that operations have been performed and are completed. Requesting parties and/or other interested parties (e.g., excavators, facility owners, locate contractors, municipalities, regulators, auditors, damage investigators, insurance companies, etc.) also may be provided with detailed information regarding the performance of operations and quality assessment of same.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

The application claims the benefit, under 35 U.S.C. §120, as acontinuation (CON) of U.S. Non-provisional application Ser. No.12/704,485, entitled “Management System, and Associated Methods andApparatus, for Providing Improved Visibility, Quality Control and AuditCapability for Underground Facility Locate and/or Marking Operations,”filed Feb. 11, 2010, under attorney docket no. D0687.70025US01.

U.S. Ser. No. 12/704,485 claims a priority benefit, under 35 U.S.C.§119(a), to Canadian application serial no. 2,691,780, entitled“Management System, and Associated Methods and Apparatus, for ProvidingImproved Visibility, Quality Control and Audit Capability forUnderground Facility Locate and/or Marking Operations,” filed on Feb.10, 2010, under attorney docket no. PAT 70831-1CA.

U.S. Ser. No. 12/704,485 claims a priority benefit, under 35 U.S.C.§119(e), to U.S. provisional application Ser. No. 61/151,826, entitled“Management System for Providing Improved Visibility, Quality Controland Audit Capability for Underground Facility Locate Applications,”filed on Feb. 11, 2009, under attorney docket no. D0687.70025US00.

Each of the above-identified applications is hereby incorporated hereinby reference.

BACKGROUND

Field service operations may be any operation in which companiesdispatch technicians and/or other staff to perform certain activities,for example, installations, services and/or repairs. Field serviceoperations may exist in various industries, examples of which include,but are not limited to, network installations, utility installations,security systems, construction, medical equipment, heating, ventilatingand air conditioning (HVAC) and the like.

An example of a field service operation in the construction industry isa so-called “locate and marking operation,” also commonly referred tomore simply as a “locate operation” (or sometimes merely as “a locate”).In a typical locate operation, a locate technician visits a work site inwhich there is a plan to disturb the ground (e.g., excavate, dig one ormore holes and/or trenches, bore, etc.) so as to determine a presence oran absence of one or more underground facilities (such as various typesof utility cables and pipes) in a dig area to be excavated or disturbedat the work site. In some instances, a locate operation may be requestedfor a “design” project, in which there may be no immediate plan toexcavate or otherwise disturb the ground, but nonetheless informationabout a presence or absence of one or more underground facilities at awork site may be valuable to inform a planning, permitting and/orengineering design phase of a future construction project.

In many states, an excavator who plans to disturb ground at a work siteis required by law to notify any potentially affected undergroundfacility owners prior to undertaking an excavation activity. Advancednotice of excavation activities may be provided by an excavator (oranother party) by contacting a “one-call center.” One-call centerstypically are operated by a consortium of underground facility ownersfor the purposes of receiving excavation notices and in turn notifyingfacility owners and/or their agents of a plan to excavate. As part of anadvanced notification, excavators typically provide to the one-callcenter various information relating to the planned activity, including alocation (e.g., address) of the work site and a description of the digarea to be excavated or otherwise disturbed at the work site.

FIG. 1 illustrates an example in which a locate operation is initiatedas a result of an excavator 110 providing an excavation notice to aone-call center 120. An excavation notice also is commonly referred toas a “locate request,” and may be provided by the excavator to theone-call center via an electronic mail message, information entry via awebsite maintained by the one-call center, or a telephone conversationbetween the excavator and a human operator at the one-call center. Thelocate request may include an address or some other location-relatedinformation describing the geographic location of a work site at whichthe excavation is to be performed, as well as a description of the digarea (e.g., a text description), such as its location relative tocertain landmarks and/or its approximate dimensions, within which thereis a plan to disturb the ground at the work site. One-call centerssimilarly may receive locate requests for design projects (for which, asdiscussed above, there may be no immediate plan to excavate or otherwisedisturb the ground).

Using the information provided in a locate request for plannedexcavation or design projects, the one-call center identifies certainunderground facilities that may be present at the indicated work site.For this purpose, many one-call centers typically maintain a collection“polygon maps” which indicate, within a given geographic area over whichthe one-call center has jurisdiction, generally where undergroundfacilities may be found relative to some geographic reference frame orcoordinate system.

Polygon maps typically are provided to the one-call centers byunderground facilities owners within the jurisdiction of the one callcenter (“members” of the one-call center). A one-call center firstprovides the facility owner/member with one or more maps (e.g., streetor property maps) within the jurisdiction, on which are superimposedsome type of grid or coordinate system employed by the one-call centeras a geographic frame of reference. Using the maps provided by theone-call center, the respective facilities owners/members draw one ormore polygons on each map to indicate an area within which theirfacilities generally are disposed underground (without indicating thefacilities themselves). These polygons themselves do not preciselyindicate geographic locations of respective underground facilities;rather, the area enclosed by a given polygon generally provides anover-inclusive indication of where a given facilities owner'sunderground facilities are disposed. Different facilities owners/membersmay draw polygons of different sizes around areas including theirunderground facilities, and in some instances such polygons can coverappreciably large geographic regions (e.g., an entire subdivision of aresidential area), which may further obfuscate the actual/preciselocation of respective underground facilities.

Based on the polygon maps collected from the facilities owners/members,the one-call center may in some instances create composite polygon mapsto show polygons of multiple different members on a single map. Whetherusing single member or composite polygon maps, the one-call centerexamines the address or location information provided in the locaterequest and identifies a significant buffer zone around an identifiedwork site so as to make an over-inclusive identification of facilitiesowners/members that may have underground facilities present (e.g., toerr on the side of caution). In particular, based on this generallyover-inclusive buffer zone around the identified work site (and in someinstances significantly over-inclusive buffer zone), the one-call centerconsults the polygon maps to identify which member polygons intersectwith all or a portion of the buffer zone so as to notify theseunderground facility owners/members and/or their agents of the proposedexcavation or design project. Again, it should be appreciated that thebuffer zones around an indicated work site utilized by one-call centersfor this purpose typically embrace a geographic area that includes butgoes well beyond the actual work site, and in many cases the geographicarea enclosed by a buffer zone is significantly larger than the actualdig area in which excavation or other similar activities are planned.Similarly, as noted above, the area enclosed by a given member polygongenerally does not provide a precise indication of where one or moreunderground facilities may in fact be found.

In some instances, one-call centers may also or alternatively haveaccess to various existing maps of underground facilities in theirjurisdiction, referred to as “facilities maps.” Facilities mapstypically are maintained by facilities owners/members within thejurisdiction and show, for respective different utility types, whereunderground facilities purportedly may be found relative to somegeographic reference frame or coordinate system (e.g., a grid, a streetor property map, GPS latitude and longitude coordinates, etc.).Facilities maps generally provide somewhat more detail than polygon mapsprovided by facilities owners/members; however, in some instances theinformation contained in facilities maps may not be accurate and/orcomplete. For at least this reason, whether using polygon maps orfacilities maps, as noted above the one-call center utilizes asignificant buffer zone around an identified work site so as to make anover-inclusive identification of facilities owners/members that may haveunderground facilities present.

Once facilities implicated by the locate request are identified by aone-call center (e.g., via the polygon map/buffer zone process), theone-call center generates a “locate request ticket” (also known as a“locate ticket,” or simply a “ticket”). The locate request ticketessentially constitutes an instruction to inspect a work site andtypically identifies the work site of the proposed excavation or designand a description of the dig area, typically lists on the ticket all ofthe underground facilities that may be present at the work site (e.g.,by providing a member code for the facility owner whose polygon fallswithin a given buffer zone), and may also include various otherinformation relevant to the proposed excavation or design (e.g., thename of the excavation company, a name of a property owner or partycontracting the excavation company to perform the excavation, etc.). Theone-call center sends the ticket to one or more underground facilityowners 140 and/or one or more locate service providers 130 (who may beacting as contracted agents of the facility owners) so that they canconduct a locate and marking operation to verify a presence or absenceof the underground facilities in the dig area. For example, in someinstances, a given underground facility owner 140 may operate its ownfleet of locate technicians (e.g., locate technician 145), in which casethe one-call center 120 may send the ticket to the underground facilityowner 140. In other instances, a given facility owner may contract witha locate service provider to receive locate request tickets and performa locate and marking operation in response to received tickets on theirbehalf.

Upon receiving the locate request, a locate service provider or afacility owner (hereafter referred to as a “ticket recipient”) maydispatch a locate technician to the work site of planned excavation todetermine a presence or absence of one or more underground facilities inthe dig area to be excavated or otherwise disturbed. A typical firststep for the locate technician includes utilizing an undergroundfacility “locate device,” which is an instrument or set of instruments(also referred to commonly as a “locate set”) for detecting facilitiesthat are concealed in some manner, such as cables and pipes that arelocated underground. The locate device is employed by the technician toverify the presence or absence of underground facilities indicated inthe locate request ticket as potentially present in the dig area (e.g.,via the facility owner member codes listed in the ticket). This processis often referred to as a “locate operation.”

In one example of a locate operation, an underground facility locatedevice is used to detect electromagnetic fields that are generated by anapplied signal provided along a length of a target facility to beidentified. In this example, a locate device may include both a signaltransmitter to provide the applied signal (e.g., which is coupled by thelocate technician to a tracer wire disposed along a length of afacility), and a signal receiver which is generally a hand-heldapparatus carried by the locate technician as the technician walksaround the dig area to search for underground facilities. FIG. 2illustrates a conventional locate device 1500 (indicated by the dashedbox) that includes a transmitter 1505 and a locate receiver 1510. Thetransmitter 1505 is connected, via a connection point 1525, to a targetobject (in this example, underground facility 1515) located in theground 1520. The transmitter generates the applied signal 1530, which iscoupled to the underground facility via the connection point (e.g., to atracer wire along the facility), resulting in the generation of amagnetic field 1535. The magnetic field in turn is detected by thelocate receiver 1510, which itself may include one or more detectionantenna (not shown). The locate receiver 1510 indicates a presence of afacility when it detects electromagnetic fields arising from the appliedsignal 1530. Conversely, the absence of a signal detected by the locatereceiver generally indicates the absence of the target facility.

In yet another example, a locate device employed for a locate operationmay include a single instrument, similar in some respects to aconventional metal detector. In particular, such an instrument mayinclude an oscillator to generate an alternating current that passesthrough a coil, which in turn produces a first magnetic field. If apiece of electrically conductive metal is in close proximity to the coil(e.g., if an underground facility having a metal component is below/nearthe coil of the instrument), eddy currents are induced in the metal andthe metal produces its own magnetic field, which in turn affects thefirst magnetic field. The instrument may include a second coil tomeasure changes to the first magnetic field, thereby facilitatingdetection of metallic objects.

In addition to the locate operation, the locate technician alsogenerally performs a “marking operation,” in which the technician marksthe presence (and in some cases the absence) of a given undergroundfacility in the dig area based on the various signals detected (or notdetected) during the locate operation. For this purpose, the locatetechnician conventionally utilizes a “marking device” to dispense amarking material on, for example, the ground, pavement, or other surfacealong a detected underground facility. Marking material may be anymaterial, substance, compound, and/or element, used or which may be usedseparately or in combination to mark, signify, and/or indicate. Examplesof marking materials may include, but are not limited to, paint, chalk,dye, and/or iron. Marking devices, such as paint marking wands and/orpaint marking wheels, provide a convenient method of dispensing markingmaterials onto surfaces, such as onto the surface of the ground orpavement.

FIGS. 3A and 3B illustrate a conventional marking device 50 with amechanical actuation system to dispense paint as a marker. Generallyspeaking, the marking device 50 includes a handle 38 at a proximal endof an elongated shaft 36 and resembles a sort of “walking stick,” suchthat a technician may operate the marking device while standing/walkingin an upright or substantially upright position. A marking dispenserholder 40 is coupled to a distal end of the shaft 36 so as to containand support a marking dispenser 56, e.g., an aerosol paint can having aspray nozzle 54. Typically, a marking dispenser in the form of anaerosol paint can is placed into the holder 40 upside down, such thatthe spray nozzle 54 is proximate to the distal end of the shaft (closeto the ground, pavement or other surface on which markers are to bedispensed).

In FIGS. 3A and 3B, the mechanical actuation system of the markingdevice 50 includes an actuator or mechanical trigger 42 proximate to thehandle 38 that is actuated/triggered by the technician (e.g., viapulling, depressing or squeezing with fingers/hand). The actuator 42 isconnected to a mechanical coupler 52 (e.g., a rod) disposed inside andalong a length of the elongated shaft 36. The coupler 52 is in turnconnected to an actuation mechanism 58, at the distal end of the shaft36, which mechanism extends outward from the shaft in the direction ofthe spray nozzle 54. Thus, the actuator 42, the mechanical coupler 52,and the actuation mechanism 58 constitute the mechanical actuationsystem of the marking device 50.

FIG. 3A shows the mechanical actuation system of the conventionalmarking device 50 in the non-actuated state, wherein the actuator 42 is“at rest” (not being pulled) and, as a result, the actuation mechanism58 is not in contact with the spray nozzle 54. FIG. 3B shows the markingdevice 50 in the actuated state, wherein the actuator 42 is beingactuated (pulled, depressed, squeezed) by the technician. When actuated,the actuator 42 displaces the mechanical coupler 52 and the actuationmechanism 58 such that the actuation mechanism contacts and appliespressure to the spray nozzle 54, thus causing the spray nozzle todeflect slightly and dispense paint. The mechanical actuation system isspring-loaded so that it automatically returns to the non-actuated state(FIG. 3A) when the actuator 42 is released.

In some environments, arrows, flags, darts, or other types of physicalmarks may be used to mark the presence or absence of an undergroundfacility in a dig area, in addition to or as an alternative to amaterial applied to the ground (such as paint, chalk, dye, tape) alongthe path of a detected utility. The marks resulting from any of a widevariety of materials and/or objects used to indicate a presence orabsence of underground facilities generally are referred to as “locatemarks.” Often, different color materials and/or physical objects may beused for locate marks, wherein different colors correspond to differentutility types. For example, the American Public Works Association (APWA)has established a standardized color-coding system for utilityidentification for use by public agencies, utilities, contractors andvarious groups involved in ground excavation (e.g., red=electric powerlines and cables; blue=potable water; orange=telecommunication lines;yellow=gas, oil, steam). In some cases, the technician also may provideone or more marks to indicate that no facility was found in the dig area(sometimes referred to as a “clear”).

As mentioned above, the foregoing activity of identifying and marking apresence or absence of one or more underground facilities generally isreferred to for completeness as a “locate and marking operation.”However, in light of common parlance adopted in the constructionindustry, and/or for the sake of brevity, one or both of the respectivelocate and marking functions may be referred to in some instances simplyas a “locate operation” or a “locate” (i.e., without making any specificreference to the marking function). Accordingly, it should beappreciated that any reference in the relevant arts to the task of alocate technician simply as a “locate operation” or a “locate” does notnecessarily exclude the marking portion of the overall process. At thesame time, in some contexts a locate operation is identified separatelyfrom a marking operation, wherein the former relates more specificallyto detection-related activities and the latter relates more specificallyto marking-related activities.

Inaccurate locating and/or marking of underground facilities can resultin physical damage to the facilities, property damage, and/or personalinjury during the excavation process that, in turn, can expose afacility owner or contractor to significant legal liability. Whenunderground facilities are damaged and/or when property damage orpersonal injury results from damaging an underground facility during anexcavation, the excavator may assert that the facility was notaccurately located and/or marked by a locate technician, while theentity who dispatched the technician (e.g., locate contractor, facilityowner, municipality, etc.) may in turn assert that the facility wasindeed properly located and marked. Proving whether the undergroundfacility was properly located and marked can be difficult after theexcavation (or after some damage, e.g., a gas explosion), because inmany cases the physical locate marks (e.g., the marking material orother physical marks used to mark the facility on the surface of the digarea) will have been disturbed or destroyed during the excavationprocess (and/or damage resulting from excavation).

SUMMARY

Entities that oversee the performance of locate operations, such aslocate contractors, facility owners, and municipalities, may managelocate technician work forces of various sizes. Applicants haverecognized and appreciated that even for relatively modest-sizedtechnician work forces, implementing and performing meaningful oversightand quality control activities in a timely fashion in connection withlocate operations may be difficult; for example, each technician may beassigned numerous locate tickets to complete during the course of agiven time period, and may cover appreciable geographic territory.

Conventionally, at best there are limited oversight and/or qualitycontrol activities in connection with underground facility locateoperations, and in many instances there are no quality controlactivities whatsoever. As a result, in some cases locate operations maynot even be performed pursuant to issued tickets (e.g., techniciansdon't go to work sites); in other instances, poor performance, increasedrisk of damage to facilities, and/or a failure to comply with variousregulations or contract requirements may go undetected, therebyadversely affecting customer satisfaction. Perhaps more importantly,locate operations that are not in fact performed pursuant to issuedtickets, or poorly performed and/or poorly managed locate operations,may jeopardize public safety and/or the safety of workers in and aroundwork sites, and may lead to wide scale utility outages having dramaticeconomic impact on businesses and communities. Additionally, the time,effort and cost that is associated with re-performing work in the fieldrequiring correction and/or improvement of poorly performed locateoperations may be unacceptable.

Moreover, data and infrastructure generally is lacking to facilitatetracking activities and processes in conventional underground facilitylocate operations and other field service operations. Consequently, inorder to provide improved oversight and quality control, improvedinstrumentation is required so as to acquire and communicate relevantdata pertaining to operations, as well as computer-implemented methods(e.g., computing devices executing software applications) foreffectively and efficiently acquiring, analyzing and processing relevantdata, and communicating relevant information pursuant to such analysisat multiple operational levels (e.g., regulators, auditors, management,supervisors, technicians) and/or with all interested parties (excavatorsor other requesting parties, one-call centers and their members,municipalities, facility owners, locate contractors, locatetechnicians).

Accordingly, a need exists for ways of providing oversight, qualitycontrol and proof of compliance with applicable regulations and relevantcustomer-supplier agreements in field service applications in order toremove uncertainty, improve customer satisfaction, identify and reducethe number of poorly performed field calls, and improve management'svisibility into the activities of its distributed workforce operations.More specifically, a need exists for improved approaches to qualitycontrol in the underground facility locate industry in order to improvecustomer satisfaction, prove performance of relevant customer-supplieragreements, insure compliance with applicable federal, state or localregulations and reduce the risk of damage to underground facilities dueto poorly performed underground facility locate operations.

In view of the foregoing, various embodiments disclosed herein relate toinventive systems, methods and apparatus for managing locate operations(i.e., locate and/or marking operations) to identify (e.g., detectand/or mark) a presence or absence of one or more underground facilitieswithin a dig area. In various aspects described herein, the systems,methods and apparatus according to the present invention provide aholistic approach to management and oversight of locate operations inone or more of the following ways:

-   -   Improving initial requests to perform locate operations (e.g.,        by including image information and/or geospatial metadata        relating to the work site/dig areas in which operations are to        be performed);    -   Intelligently processing and assessing locate requests (e.g.,        assessing work scope, risk, complexity, etc., and appropriately        allocating available technician resources);    -   Effectively and efficiently dispatching technicians in response        to requests (e.g., based on multi-day performance windows, shift        information relating to available technician resources,        technician skill set and history, job complexity, etc.);    -   Providing process guides to technicians to facilitate locate        operations (e.g., locally displaying ticket information on        locating equipment used in the field, and/or providing        checklists or workflows for performing operations);    -   Acquiring a host of information regarding the performance of        locate operations and their environs (e.g., via improved        intelligent instrumentation employed by technicians) and/or        generating “electronic manifests” of locate operations;    -   Assessing the quality (e.g., completeness, accuracy, efficiency)        of locate operations during performance of operations (e.g., in        essentially real-time) and/or upon completion of operations;    -   Archiving information regarding locate operations and their        quality assessments to facilitate auditing of same;    -   Communicating relevant information to one or more parties        associated with locate operations—in particular, apprising        requesting parties of the status of ongoing locate operations,        confirming with requesting parties that operations have been        performed and are completed, and providing requesting parties        and/or other interested parties (e.g., regulators, auditors,        damage investigators and assessors, etc.) with detailed        information regarding the performance of the operation and a        quality assessment of same; and    -   Enabling facility owners, locate service providers/contractors,        one-call centers, and/or excavators to comply with any        applicable reporting requirements regarding their respective        activities, facilities, and/or geographic areas under their        jurisdiction.

In some exemplary implementations, an improved locate request includingimage data (and optionally non-image data/information associated withthe image data) is electronically created (e.g., by a requesting party,such as an excavator, property owner, facility owner, regulatoryauthority, damage investigator, etc.), in which one or more dig areas ata work site are identified by one or more dig area indicatorssuperimposed on an image of the work site, so as to create a marked-upimage. Such a request may form the basis of a locate request ticket tobe forwarded to one or more parties that may have underground facilitiesin an area surrounding the work site (e.g., via a one-call centerpolygon map process as discussed above), in which the locate requestticket includes accompanying image data for the dig area indicator(s)and/or the marked-up image itself.

In some implementations, a party receiving such a ticket may parse theticket to extract relevant information, and/or perform a comprehensiveassessment process based on information extracted from the ticket (i.e.,“ticket information”), to provide information that can be used toimprove activity scheduling, resource allocation, quality control,and/or regulatory compliance. In some aspects, a ticket assessmentprocess may establish the integrity, accuracy, and/or completeness ofticket information in connection with specified location of plannedexcavation, and provide assessments relating to scope of work (amountand nature of work), complexity involved, duration (amount of timerequired), risk (potential liability for damages), business value(penalty and/or profitability), and skill/certification requirements fortechnicians in performing the operation.

In another aspect of the inventive embodiments discussed herein, ticketassessment outcomes may be employed to inform a scheduling process fordispatching technicians. More generally, according to exemplaryscheduling processes relating to the management systems and methodsdisclosed herein, scheduling of technicians and allocation oftechnicians to particular locate operations may be based at least inpart on one or more of: performance deadlines for the operations andrelevant shift times of available technicians; various parametersrelating to the operations themselves (job performance informationand/or quality assessment information), technicians (e.g., historicalefficiencies, particular skills/certification, security clearance),and/or relevant environmental conditions (e.g., weather, traffic);ticket assessment outcomes (e.g., risk information; penalty orprofitability information; complexity information; technicianskill/certification requirements); contractual obligations between theentity dispatching technicians and responsible for/overseeing the locateoperations, and one or more parties for which the operation(s) is/arebeing performed; statutory and/or regulatory requirements, such as wageand hour compliance for resources (e.g., availability of resources forscheduling complies with applicable wage and hour statutes/regulations),and/or the time and/or manner in which a given operation needs to beperformed pursuant to applicable statutes/regulations.

In yet other embodiments of management systems and methods, a processguide may be provided to a technician, once dispatched, to facilitateperformance of the locate operation. For example, ticket information(which may include an original locate request ticket issued by aone-call center, a work order derived from one or more locate requesttickets, or other process guide) may be displayed and/or processed onone or more pieces of locating equipment used in the field by atechnician, and/or one or more other computing devices (e.g., tabletcomputer, personal digital assistant, smart phone, or otherportable/handheld computing device). As part of performing the locateoperation, the technician may provide some input to generate anelectronic record or log of technician activity during the operation. Inone exemplary implementation, a process guide in the form of a checklistmay be generated (e.g., based at least in part on the ticketinformation), either at a remote computer and then downloaded to thelocating equipment, or generated at the locate equipment itself, anddisplayed locally to the technician as a guide to perform and verifyvarious aspects of the operation(s). In another exemplaryimplementation, a set of instructions or “workflow” may be generated(either remotely or on the locate equipment) to guide the technicianthrough a sequence of steps to perform the locate operation. Performancevia a process guide (e.g., checklist or workflow) may be interactive inthat the technician may provide input, or automated/semi-automated byanalyzing various information collected by the locating equipment withrespect to the ticket information and/or other available informationgermane to the operation(s).

With respect to information collected by locating equipment, in variousimplementations of the inventive concepts disclosed herein, a technicianmay employ one more pieces of “intelligent locating equipment,” e.g.,one or more of a marking device, a locate transmitter, a locatereceiver, or a combined locate and marking device, that is configured toacquire, store, process, analyze and/or transmit a variety ofinformation germane to the locate operation. In exemplary aspects, suchintelligent locating equipment typically comprises a communicationinterface, memory, one or more processors, a user interface/displaydevice, and one or more input devices/sensors for acquiring variousinformation germane to the operation. Acquired information may be loggedinto an electronic record stored in memory, analyzed/processed in any ofa variety of manners, and/or transmitted to one or more other devices(e.g., remote computers, other locating equipment, etc.). In someimplementations, multiple pieces of intelligent locating equipment maybe communicatively coupled to each other, as well as one or more othercomputing devices, and work in tandem to acquire, analyze or otherwiseprocess various information collected in connection with the locateoperation.

For example, intelligent locating equipment may be configured with alocation tracking system to acquire geo-location data relating to whereunderground facilities are detected and/or marked. Locate devices may beconfigured with processor-controlled detection electronics to receivesignals relating to facility detection and to analyze one or morecharacteristics of such signals. Marking devices may be configured withmarking material detection mechanisms to provide various informationrelating to characteristics of marking material dispensed to markground, pavement or other surfaces. Both locate and marking devices maybe equipped with various environmental and/or operational sensors toacquire information relating to environmental conditions in and aroundthe area of use and/or storage of the locating equipment, and/oroperational conditions of the locate equipment itself. Additionally,both locate and marking devices may include one or more input devices toacquire information relating to landmarks in and around the work site.Further, one or both of the user interface and the communicationinterface of such intelligent locating equipment may serve as conduitsfor receiving various information relating to the operation; forexample, as discussed above, ticket information or other service-relatedinformation may be received via the communication interface, and/orentered in via a user interface, and such information may also be loggedinto an electronic record of the locate operation.

Whether intelligent locating equipment is utilized in the field by atechnician, or conventional locating equipment is employed (e.g., asdiscussed above in connection with FIGS. 2 and 3), in other aspects ofthe inventive systems, methods and apparatus disclosed herein, anelectronic manifest of a locate operation is generated during and/orupon completion of the locate operation to memorialize various aspectsof the work performed. In one example of an electronic manifest, atechnician may utilize a computing device (e.g., a tablet computer or PCdisposed in the technician's vehicle, a portable/handheld device such aspersonal digital assistant or smart phone, the intelligent locatingequipment itself, etc.) to access an electronic manifest application,which provides a digital image of the work site and its surroundings tothe technician (via a display of the computing device), together with adrawing tool that allows the technician to mark-up the image to indicatewhere facilities were detected and/or marked, where landmarks weredetected and/or marked, and the like. The electronic manifestapplication also may be configured to include with the imageinformation, and in some instances allow the technician to provide,other graphic or text based information regarding the operation (e.g.,date and timestamp for the locate operation, geographiclocation/geo-coordinates of the work site/dig area, identifier(s) forthe locate technician, facility owner(s), and/or the locate company,etc.).

In some implementations in which the technician employs one or morepieces of intelligent locating equipment, information stored in one ormore electronic records of the locating equipment, or informationgenerated in real-time by the locating equipment, may be passed to theelectronic manifest application and used to automaticallypopulate/mark-up an image with electronic detection marks, electroniclocate marks, and/or electronic landmarks indicating wherefacilities/landmarks were detected and/or marked. In the event that nounderground facilities are found (e.g., a “clear”), in some instancesone or more physical locate marks may nonetheless be applied to the digarea to indicate the absence of an underground facility, and as such oneor more electronic locate mark indicators may be added to the electronicmanifest; however, in other instances, no physical locate marks may beapplied to the dig area in the event of a “clear,” and accordingly insome cases no electronic locate mark indicators may be added to theelectronic manifest in the event of a “clear.” In yet another aspect,the image used by the electronic manifest application to create anelectronic manifest may be derived from image information included withthe original locate request, which image information may includeinformation relating to one or more dig area indicators; in this manner,visual information regarding the locate operation as performed may besuperimposed upon an image that includes the dig area indicator(s)provided as part of the original locate request, so as to generate anelectronic manifest.

In some implementations, an electronic manifest generated eithermanually by a technician via a drawing tool, or automatically populatedat least in part with information acquired via intelligent locatingequipment, may accompany or constitute a “completed” electronic locaterequest ticket. For purposes of the present disclosure, a “completed”electronic locate request ticket refers to an electronic communicationgenerated by a technician indicating that a locate operation has beenattempted or performed, at least to some extent. Accordingly, it shouldbe appreciated that a “completed” ticket does not necessarily imply thata locate operation itself was successfully performed in its entirety (asdictated by one or more locate request tickets), but that it was atleast initiated and attempted in some fashion. For example, a technicianmay be dispatched to a work site, may begin performing a locateoperation, and may encounter some unforeseen impediment to completingthe operation, or some condition or circumstance that warrants specialaction or attention. Accordingly, the technician may generate a“completed” ticket that reflects the attempted operation but in somemanner reflects the anomalous situation attendant to the attemptedlocate operation. In any event, according to various embodiments, anelectronic manifest, including a marked-up image, and/or any of thedata/information associated with the image contents, may be provided aspart of, or an attachment to, a completed locate request ticket so as toaugment the information content provided pursuant to the locateoperation.

In yet other aspects of the inventive systems, methods and apparatusdisclosed herein, completed tickets may be reviewed, in essentiallyreal-time during performance of a locate operation, and/or at any timefollowing attempt/completion of a locate operation, to provide a qualityassessment of the locate operation (e.g., an assessment of thecompleteness, accuracy, and/or efficiency of the operation). Qualityassessment processes according to various embodiments may be primarilyunder the discretion of a human reviewer, albeit facilitated in somerespects by computer-aided display of information, and electronic recordkeeping and communication functions associated with the qualityassessment result(s). In other embodiments, information related to alocate operation (e.g., electronic manifest information accompanying orconstituting a completed ticket) is electronically analyzed such that aquality assessment is based at least in part on some predeterminedcriteria and/or metrics that facilitate an automated determination ofquality assessment. In one aspect, if the locate operation representedby the completed ticket complies with a predetermined quality standard(e.g., based on predetermined criteria and/or metrics), the locateoperation may be “approved” (e.g., a quality assessment process/enginemay generate an “approved completed locate request ticket”). In anotheraspect, real-time quality assessment during performance of a locateoperation may facilitate identification of risks or problems that may beflagged for proactive corrective action (e.g., immediately, or as soonas practicable).

In yet other aspects, various quality assessment functions may beimplemented in a centralized or distributed fashion. For example, in oneimplementation, a central server or other computing device(s) operatedby a locate service provider or other entity may collect relevantinformation from the field relating to locate operations and performquality assessments of same. In another implementation, intelligentlocating equipment may be configured to perform some degree of qualityassessment local to the work site; for example, intelligent locatingequipment may be configured to acquire information about the locateoperation and its environs, compare elements of acquired information tovarious criteria relating to functionality and/or use of the locatingequipment, and/or one or more environmental conditions proximate to thelocating equipment and/or work site in which it is being used, andprovide one or more local alerts (e.g., visual, audible, and/or tactileindications) to a technician to indicate any detected out-of-toleranceconditions. Such locally detected conditions also may be transmitted byintelligent locating equipment to one or more other pieces ofintelligent locate equipment in the area, and or one or more remotecomputing devices, for further and/or corroborative quality assessmentor other analysis. In this fashion, a host of quality assessmentfunctionality may be facilitated at various organizational levels,and/or amongst multiple distributed computing resources.

In other aspects, any information acquired in connection with the locateoperation (e.g., electronic records acquired by intelligent locatingequipment, electronic manifests), as well as quality assessment results,may be archived (e.g., in a database and/or central data store) forfuture reference/access by various parties that may be interested insuch information (e.g., excavators, one-call centers, facility owners,locate contractors, municipalities, regulatory authorities, damageinvestigators/assessors, insurance companies, etc.). In particular, anyinformation relating to an approved completed locate request ticket maybe electronically transmitted and/or electronically stored so as toprovide a searchable, secure, and unalterable electronic record of thelocate operation (e.g., using any of a variety of conventionallyavailable encryption algorithms, such as TripleDES/TDEA, or the Blowfishkeyed symmetric block cipher). Such an electronic record provides forimproved visibility, quality control and audit capability forunderground facility locate operations.

In yet other embodiments of management systems and methods according tothe present invention, at one or more points during the processesdiscussed above, one or more “positive response” notificationsindicating a status of the locate operation and/or disposition of thetechnician, and/or more detailed information about the progress of thelocate operation, may be electronically transmitted and/or stored so asto inform at least one party associated with requesting the operation ofthe status of the operation and/or details thereof. In one aspect, arequesting party may designate a particular format, content, and/ormethod of receiving notifications regarding the locate operation. Inanother aspect, a computer-generated GUI may be provided to facilitatesubmission of locate requests, generation of image information toindicate one or more dig areas on a digital image of a work site as partof a locate request, and/or selection of notifications and preferencesfor same. In yet another aspect, a requesting party may provide anacknowledgement of receipt (e.g., a “return receipt”) for one or morereceived notifications.

In sum, one embodiment of the present invention is directed to anapparatus for managing a locate operation. The locate operationcomprises identifying, in response to a locate request ticket, apresence or an absence of at least one underground facility within a digarea, wherein at least a portion of the dig area may be excavated ordisturbed during excavation activities. The apparatus comprises acommunication interface, a memory to store processor-executableinstructions, and a processing unit coupled to the communicationinterface and the memory. Upon execution of the processor-executableinstructions by the processing unit, the processing unit: controls thecommunication interface to electronically receive the locate requestticket identifying the dig area, the locate request ticket includingimage data associated with the dig area, wherein the image data includesa marked-up image of a geographic area including the dig area, themarked-up image including at least one dig area indicator to provide anindication of the dig area; controls the communication interface totransmit the locate request ticket to at least one locate personneldevice; controls the communication interface to receive from the atleast one locate personnel device a completed locate request ticket, thecompleted locate request ticket including an updated marked-up image,the updated marked-up image including the at least one dig areaindicator and at least one locate mark indicator to digitally representa location of at least one physical locate mark applied to the dig areaduring the locate operation; processes the completed locate requestticket and electronically marks the completed locate request ticket asapproved if the locate operation represented by the completed locaterequest ticket complies with a predetermined quality standard, so as toprovide an approved completed locate request ticket; and controls thecommunication interface and/or the memory to electronically transmitand/or electronically store information relating to the approvedcompleted locate request ticket so as to provide a searchable electronicrecord of the locate operation.

Another embodiment is directed to at least one computer-readable mediumencoded with instructions that, when executed on at least one processingunit, perform a method for managing a locate operation. The locateoperation comprises identifying, in response to a locate request ticket,a presence or an absence of at least one underground facility within adig area, wherein at least a portion of the dig area may be excavated ordisturbed during excavation activities. The method comprises: A)electronically receiving the locate request ticket identifying the digarea, the locate request ticket including image data associated with thedig area, wherein the image data includes a marked-up image of ageographic area including the dig area, the marked-up image including atleast one dig area indicator to provide an indication of the dig area;B) transmitting the locate request ticket received in A) to at least onelocate personnel device; C) receiving from the at least one locatepersonnel device a completed locate request ticket, the completed locaterequest ticket including an updated marked-up image, the updatedmarked-up image including the at least one dig area indicator and atleast one locate mark indicator to digitally represent a location of atleast one physical locate mark applied to the dig area during the locateoperation; D) electronically marking the completed locate request ticketas approved if the locate operation represented by the completed locaterequest ticket complies with a predetermined quality standard, so as toprovide an approved completed locate request ticket; and E)electronically transmitting and/or electronically storing informationrelating to the approved completed locate request ticket so as toprovide a searchable electronic record of the locate operation.

Another embodiment is directed to a method for managing a locateoperation. The locate operation comprises identifying, in response to alocate request ticket, a presence or an absence of at least oneunderground facility within a dig area, wherein at least a portion ofthe dig area may be excavated or disturbed during excavation activities.The method comprises: A) electronically receiving the locate requestticket identifying the dig area, the locate request ticket includingimage data associated with the dig area, wherein the image data includesa marked-up image of a geographic area including the dig area, themarked-up image including at least one dig area indicator to provide anindication of the dig area; B) transmitting the locate request ticketreceived in A) to at least one locate personnel device; C) receivingfrom the at least one locate personnel device a completed locate requestticket, the completed locate request ticket including an updatedmarked-up image, the updated marked-up image including the at least onedig area indicator and at least one locate mark indicator to digitallyrepresent a location of at least one physical locate mark applied to thedig area during the locate operation; D) electronically marking thecompleted locate request ticket as approved if the locate operationrepresented by the completed locate request ticket complies with apredetermined quality standard, so as to provide an approved completedlocate request ticket; and E) electronically transmitting and/orelectronically storing information relating to the approved completedlocate request ticket so as to provide a searchable electronic record ofthe locate operation.

Another embodiment is directed to an apparatus for managing a locateoperation. The locate operation comprises identifying, in response to alocate request ticket, a presence or an absence of at least oneunderground facility within a dig area, wherein at least a portion ofthe dig area may be excavated or disturbed during excavation activities.The apparatus comprises a communication interface; a memory to storeprocessor-executable instructions; and a processing unit coupled to thecommunication interface and the memory. Upon execution of theprocessor-executable instructions by the processing unit, the processingunit: A) controls the communication interface to electronically receivethe locate request ticket identifying the dig area, the locate requestticket including image data associated with the dig area, wherein theimage data includes a marked-up image of a geographic area including thedig area, the marked-up image including at least one dig area indicatorto provide an indication of the dig area; B) controls the communicationinterface to transmit the locate request ticket to at least one locatepersonnel device; C) controls the communication interface to receivefrom the at least one locate personnel device a completed locate requestticket, the completed locate request ticket including image data andnon-image data associated with the locate operation, the non-image dataincluding at least one of: a timestamp for the locate operation;geographic information associated with the dig area; and at least oneidentifier for a locate technician and/or a locate company; D) processesthe completed locate request ticket and electronically marks thecompleted locate request ticket as approved if the locate operationrepresented by the completed locate request ticket complies with apredetermined quality standard, so as to provide an approved completedlocate request ticket; and E) controls the communication interfaceand/or the memory to electronically transmit and/or electronically storeinformation relating to the approved completed locate request ticket soas to provide a searchable electronic record of the locate operation.

Another embodiment is directed to a method for performing a locateoperation. The locate operation comprises identifying, in response to atleast one locate request ticket, a presence or an absence of at leastone underground facility within a dig area, wherein at least a portionof the dig area may be excavated or disturbed during excavationactivities. The method comprises: A) electronically receiving the atleast one locate request ticket identifying the dig area, the at leastone locate request ticket including image data associated with the digarea, wherein the image data includes at least one marked-up image of ageographic area including the dig area, the at least one marked-up imageincluding at least one dig area indicator to provide an indication ofthe dig area; B) inspecting the dig area based at least in part on theat least one dig area indicator in the at least one marked-up imagereceived in A) so as to determine the presence or the absence of the atleast one underground facility; C) if the presence of the at least oneunderground facility is determined, using a marking device to physicallymark the dig area with at least one physical locate mark to indicate thepresence of the at least one underground facility; D) adding to the atleast one marked-up image at least one locate mark indicator todigitally represent a location of the at least one physical locate markon the at least one marked-up image, together with the at least one digarea indicator, so as to generate a completed locate request ticketincluding the at least one marked-up image; E) reviewing the completedlocate request ticket and, if the locate operation represented by thecompleted locate request ticket complies with a predetermined qualitystandard, electronically marking the completed locate request ticket asapproved so as to provide an approved completed locate request ticket;and F) electronically transmitting and/or electronically storinginformation relating to the approved completed locate request ticket soas to provide a searchable electronic record of the locate operation. Inone aspect, prior to D), the method comprises: D1) electronicallyreceiving from the marking device location information regarding thelocation of the at least one physical locate mark applied in C), whereinD) comprises adding the at least one locate mark indicator to the atleast one marked-up image based at least in part on the locationinformation received in D1).

Another embodiment is directed to a method for performing a locateoperation. The locate operation comprises identifying, in response to atleast one locate request ticket, a presence or an absence of at leastone underground facility within a dig area, wherein at least a portionof the dig area may be excavated or disturbed during excavationactivities. The method comprises: A) electronically receiving the atleast one locate request ticket identifying the dig area, the at leastone locate request ticket including image data associated with the digarea, wherein the image data includes at least one marked-up image of ageographic area including the dig area, the at least one marked-up imageincluding at least one dig area indicator to provide an indication ofthe dig area; B) adding to the at least one marked-up image at least onelocate mark indicator to digitally represent a location of the at leastone physical locate mark on the at least one marked-up image, togetherwith the at least one dig area indicator, so as to generate a completedlocate request ticket including the at least one marked-up image; C)reviewing the completed locate request ticket and, if the locateoperation represented by the completed locate request ticket complieswith a predetermined quality standard, electronically marking thecompleted locate request ticket as approved so as to provide an approvedcompleted locate request ticket; and D) electronically transmittingand/or electronically storing information relating to the approvedcompleted locate request ticket so as to provide a searchable electronicrecord of the locate operation.

Another embodiment is directed to an apparatus for managing a locateoperation. The locate operation comprises identifying, in response to alocate request ticket, a presence or an absence of at least oneunderground facility within a dig area, wherein at least a portion ofthe dig area may be excavated or disturbed during excavation activities.The apparatus comprises: a communication interface; a memory to storeprocessor-executable instructions; and a processing unit coupled to thecommunication interface and the memory. Upon execution of theprocessor-executable instructions by the processing unit, the processingunit: generates the locate request ticket identifying the dig area, thelocate request ticket including image data associated with the dig area,wherein the image data includes a marked-up image of a geographic areaincluding the dig area, the marked-up image including at least one digarea indicator to provide an indication of the dig area; controls thecommunication interface to transmit the locate request ticket to atleast one locate personnel device; controls the communication interfaceto receive from the at least one locate personnel device a completedlocate request ticket, the completed locate request ticket including anupdated marked-up image, the updated marked-up image including the atleast one dig area indicator and at least one locate mark indicator todigitally represent a location of at least one physical locate markapplied to the dig area during the locate operation; processes thecompleted locate request ticket and electronically marks the completedlocate request ticket as approved if the locate operation represented bythe completed locate request ticket complies with a predeterminedquality standard, so as to provide an approved completed locate requestticket; and controls the communication interface and/or the memory toelectronically transmit and/or electronically store information relatingto the approved completed locate request ticket so as to provide asearchable electronic record of the locate operation.

Another embodiment is directed to at least one computer-readable mediumencoded with instructions that, when executed on at least one processingunit, perform a method for managing a locate operation. The locateoperation comprises identifying, in response to a locate request ticket,a presence or an absence of at least one underground facility within adig area, wherein at least a portion of the dig area may be excavated ordisturbed during excavation activities. The method comprises: A)generating the locate request ticket identifying the dig area, thelocate request ticket including image data associated with the dig area,wherein the image data includes a marked-up image of a geographic areaincluding the dig area, the marked-up image including at least one digarea indicator to provide an indication of the dig area; B) transmittingthe locate request ticket received in A) to at least one locatepersonnel device; C) receiving from the at least one locate personneldevice a completed locate request ticket, the completed locate requestticket including an updated marked-up image, the updated marked-up imageincluding the at least one dig area indicator and at least one locatemark indicator to digitally represent a location of at least onephysical locate mark applied to the dig area during the locateoperation; D) electronically marking the completed locate request ticketas approved if the locate operation represented by the completed locaterequest ticket complies with a predetermined quality standard, so as toprovide an approved completed locate request ticket; and E)electronically transmitting and/or electronically storing informationrelating to the approved completed locate request ticket so as toprovide a searchable electronic record of the locate operation.

Another embodiment is directed to a method for managing a locateoperation. The locate operation comprises identifying, in response to alocate request ticket, a presence or an absence of at least oneunderground facility within a dig area, wherein at least a portion ofthe dig area may be excavated or disturbed during excavation activities.The method comprises: A) generating the locate request ticketidentifying the dig area, the locate request ticket including image dataassociated with the dig area, wherein the image data includes amarked-up image of a geographic area including the dig area, themarked-up image including at least one dig area indicator to provide anindication of the dig area; B) transmitting the locate request ticketreceived in A) to at least one locate personnel device; C) receivingfrom the at least one locate personnel device a completed locate requestticket, the completed locate request ticket including an updatedmarked-up image, the updated marked-up image including the at least onedig area indicator and at least one locate mark indicator to digitallyrepresent a location of at least one physical locate mark applied to thedig area during the locate operation; D) electronically marking thecompleted locate request ticket as approved if the locate operationrepresented by the completed locate request ticket complies with apredetermined quality standard, so as to provide an approved completedlocate request ticket; and E) electronically transmitting and/orelectronically storing information relating to the approved completedlocate request ticket so as to provide a searchable electronic record ofthe locate operation.

For purposes of the present disclosure, the term “dig area” refers to aspecified area of a work site within which there is a plan to disturbthe ground (e.g., excavate, dig holes and/or trenches, bore, etc.), andbeyond which there is no plan to excavate in the immediate surroundings.Thus, the metes and bounds of a dig area are intended to providespecificity as to where some disturbance to the ground is planned at agiven work site. It should be appreciated that a given work site mayinclude multiple dig areas.

The term “facility” refers to one or more lines, cables, fibers,conduits, transmitters, receivers, or other physical objects orstructures capable of or used for carrying, transmitting, receiving,storing, and providing utilities, energy, data, substances, and/orservices, and/or any combination thereof. The term “undergroundfacility” means any facility beneath the surface of the ground. Examplesof facilities include, but are not limited to, oil, gas, water, sewer,power, telephone, data transmission, cable television (TV), and/orinternet services.

The term “locate device” refers to any apparatus and/or device fordetecting and/or inferring the presence or absence of any facility,including without limitation, any underground facility. In variousexamples, a locate device may include both a locate transmitter and alocate receiver (which in some instances may also be referred tocollectively as a “locate instrument set,” or simply “locate set”).

The term “marking device” refers to any apparatus, mechanism, or otherdevice that employs a marking dispenser for causing a marking materialand/or marking object to be dispensed, or any apparatus, mechanism, orother device for electronically indicating (e.g., logging in memory) alocation, such as a location of an underground facility. Additionally,the term “marking dispenser” refers to any apparatus, mechanism, orother device for dispensing and/or otherwise using, separately or incombination, a marking material and/or a marking object. An example of amarking dispenser may include, but is not limited to, a pressurized canof marking paint. The term “marking material” means any material,substance, compound, and/or element, used or which may be usedseparately or in combination to mark, signify, and/or indicate. Examplesof marking materials may include, but are not limited to, paint, chalk,dye, and/or iron. The term “marking object” means any object and/orobjects used or which may be used separately or in combination to mark,signify, and/or indicate. Examples of marking objects may include, butare not limited to, a flag, a dart, and arrow, and/or an RFID markingball. It is contemplated that marking material may include markingobjects. It is further contemplated that the terms “marking materials”or “marking objects” may be used interchangeably in accordance with thepresent disclosure.

The term “locate mark” means any mark, sign, and/or object employed toindicate the presence or absence of any underground facility. Examplesof locate marks may include, but are not limited to, marks made withmarking materials, marking objects, global positioning or otherinformation, and/or any other means. Locate marks may be represented inany form including, without limitation, physical, visible, electronic,and/or any combination thereof.

The terms “actuate” or “trigger” (verb form) are used interchangeably torefer to starting or causing any device, program, system, and/or anycombination thereof to work, operate, and/or function in response tosome type of signal or stimulus. Examples of actuation signals orstimuli may include, but are not limited to, any local or remote,physical, audible, inaudible, visual, non-visual, electronic,mechanical, electromechanical, biomechanical, biosensing or othersignal, instruction, or event. The terms “actuator” or “trigger” (nounform) are used interchangeably to refer to any method or device used togenerate one or more signals or stimuli to cause or causing actuation.Examples of an actuator/trigger may include, but are not limited to, anyform or combination of a lever, switch, program, processor, screen,microphone for capturing audible commands, and/or other device ormethod. An actuator/trigger may also include, but is not limited to, adevice, software, or program that responds to any movement and/orcondition of a user, such as, but not limited to, eye movement, brainactivity, heart rate, other data, and/or the like, and generates one ormore signals or stimuli in response thereto. In the case of a markingdevice or other marking mechanism (e.g., to physically or electronicallymark a facility or other feature), actuation may cause marking materialto be dispensed, as well as various data relating to the markingoperation (e.g., geographic location, time stamps, characteristics ofmaterial dispensed, etc.) to be logged in an electronic file stored inmemory. In the case of a locate device or other locate mechanism (e.g.,to physically locate a facility or other feature), actuation may cause adetected signal strength, signal frequency, depth, or other informationrelating to the locate operation to be logged in an electronic filestored in memory.

The terms “locate and marking operation,” “locate operation,” and“locate” generally are used interchangeably and refer to any activity todetect, infer, and/or mark the presence or absence of an undergroundfacility. In some contexts, the term “locate operation” is used to morespecifically refer to detection of one or more underground facilities,and the term “marking operation” is used to more specifically refer tousing a marking material and/or one or more marking objects to mark apresence or an absence of one or more underground facilities. The term“locate technician” refers to an individual performing a locateoperation. A locate and marking operation often is specified inconnection with a dig area, at least a portion of which may be excavatedor otherwise disturbed during excavation activities.

The term “user” refers to an individual utilizing a locate device and/ora marking device and may include, but is not limited to, land surveyors,locate technicians, and support personnel.

The terms “locate request” and “excavation notice” are usedinterchangeably to refer to any communication to request a locate andmarking operation. The term “locate request ticket” (or simply “ticket”)refers to any communication or instruction to perform a locateoperation. A ticket might specify, for example, the address ordescription of a dig area to be marked, the day and/or time that the digarea is to be marked, and/or whether the user is to mark the excavationarea for certain gas, water, sewer, power, telephone, cable television,and/or some other underground facility. The term “historical ticket”refers to past tickets that have been completed.

The following U.S. published applications are hereby incorporated hereinby reference:

U.S. Pat. No. 7,640,105, issued Dec. 29, 2009, filed Mar. 13, 2007, andentitled “Marking System and Method With Location and/or Time Tracking;”

U.S. publication no. 2008-0245299-A1, published Oct. 9, 2008, filed Apr.4, 2007, and entitled “Marking System and Method;”

U.S. publication no. 2009-0013928-A1, published Jan. 15, 2009, filedSep. 24, 2008, and entitled “Marking System and Method;”

U.S. publication no. 2009-0238414-A1, published Sep. 24, 2009, filedMar. 18, 2008, and entitled “Virtual White Lines for Delimiting PlannedExcavation Sites;”

U.S. publication no. 2009-0241045-A1, published Sep. 24, 2009, filedSep. 26, 2008, and entitled “Virtual White Lines for Delimiting PlannedExcavation Sites;”

U.S. publication no. 2009-0238415-A1, published Sep. 24, 2009, filedSep. 26, 2008, and entitled “Virtual White Lines for Delimiting PlannedExcavation Sites;”

U.S. publication no. 2009-0241046-A1, published Sep. 24, 2009, filedJan. 16, 2009, and entitled “Virtual White Lines for Delimiting PlannedExcavation Sites;”

U.S. publication no. 2009-0238416-A1, published Sep. 24, 2009, filedJan. 16, 2009, and entitled “Virtual White Lines for Delimiting PlannedExcavation Sites;”

U.S. publication no. 2009-0237408-A1, published Sep. 24, 2009, filedJan. 16, 2009, and entitled “Virtual White Lines for Delimiting PlannedExcavation Sites;”

U.S. publication no. 2009-0202101-A1, published Aug. 13, 2009, filedFeb. 12, 2008, and entitled “Electronic Manifest of Underground FacilityLocate Marks;”

U.S. publication no. 2009-0202110-A1, published Aug. 13, 2009, filedSep. 11, 2008, and entitled “Electronic Manifest of Underground FacilityLocate Marks;”

U.S. publication no. 2009-0201311-A1, published Aug. 13, 2009, filedJan. 30, 2009, and entitled “Electronic Manifest of Underground FacilityLocate Marks;”

U.S. publication no. 2009-0202111-A1, published Aug. 13, 2009, filedJan. 30, 2009, and entitled “Electronic Manifest of Underground FacilityLocate Marks;”

U.S. publication no. 2009-0204625-A1, published Aug. 13, 2009, filedFeb. 5, 2009, and entitled “Electronic Manifest of Underground FacilityLocate Operation;”

U.S. publication no. 2009-0204466-A1, published Aug. 13, 2009, filedSep. 4, 2008, and entitled “Ticket Approval System For and Method ofPerforming Quality Control In Field Service Applications;”

U.S. publication no. 2009-0207019-A1, published Aug. 20, 2009, filedApr. 30, 2009, and entitled “Ticket Approval System For and Method ofPerforming Quality Control In Field Service Applications;”

U.S. publication no. 2009-0210284-A1, published Aug. 20, 2009, filedApr. 30, 2009, and entitled “Ticket Approval System For and Method ofPerforming Quality Control In Field Service Applications;”

U.S. publication no. 2009-0210297-A1, published Aug. 20, 2009, filedApr. 30, 2009, and entitled “Ticket Approval System For and Method ofPerforming Quality Control In Field Service Applications;”

U.S. publication no. 2009-0210298-A1, published Aug. 20, 2009, filedApr. 30, 2009, and entitled “Ticket Approval System For and Method ofPerforming Quality Control In Field Service Applications;”

U.S. publication no. 2009-0210285-A1, published Aug. 20, 2009, filedApr. 30, 2009, and entitled “Ticket Approval System For and Method ofPerforming Quality Control In Field Service Applications;”

U.S. publication no. 2009-0324815-A1, published Dec. 31, 2009, filedApr. 24, 2009, and entitled “Marking Apparatus and Marking Methods UsingMarking Dispenser with Machine-Readable ID Mechanism;”

U.S. publication no. 2010-0006667-A1, published Jan. 14, 2010, filedApr. 24, 2009, and entitled, “Marker Detection Mechanisms for use inMarking Devices And Methods of Using Same;”

U.S. publication no. 2009-0204238-A1, published Aug. 13, 2009, filedFeb. 2, 2009, and entitled “Electronically Controlled Marking Apparatusand Methods;”

U.S. publication no. 2009-0208642-A1, published Aug. 20, 2009, filedFeb. 2, 2009, and entitled “Marking Apparatus and Methods For Creatingan Electronic Record of Marking Operations;”

U.S. publication no. 2009-0210098-A1, published Aug. 20, 2009, filedFeb. 2, 2009, and entitled “Marking Apparatus and Methods For Creatingan Electronic Record of Marking Apparatus Operations;”

U.S. publication no. 2009-0201178-A1, published Aug. 13, 2009, filedFeb. 2, 2009, and entitled “Methods For Evaluating Operation of MarkingApparatus;”

U.S. publication no. 2009-0238417-A1, published Sep. 24, 2009, filedFeb. 6, 2009, and entitled “Virtual White Lines for Indicating PlannedExcavation Sites on Electronic Images;”

U.S. publication no. 2009-0202112-A1, published Aug. 13, 2009, filedFeb. 11, 2009, and entitled “Searchable Electronic Records ofUnderground Facility Locate Marking Operations;”

U.S. publication no. 2009-0204614-A1, published Aug. 13, 2009, filedFeb. 11, 2009, and entitled “Searchable Electronic Records ofUnderground Facility Locate Marking Operations;”

U.S. publication no. 2009-0327024-A1, published Dec. 31, 2009, filedJun. 26, 2009, and entitled “Methods and Apparatus for QualityAssessment of a Field Service Operation;”

U.S. publication no. 2010-0010862-A1, published Jan. 14, 2010, filedAug. 7, 2009, and entitled, “Methods and Apparatus for QualityAssessment of a Field Service Operation Based on GeographicInformation;”

U.S. publication No. 2010-0010863-A1, published Jan. 14, 2010, filedAug. 7, 2009, and entitled, “Methods and Apparatus for QualityAssessment of a Field Service Operation Based on Multiple ScoringCategories;” and

U.S. publication no. 2010-0010882-A1, published Jan. 14, 2010, filedAug. 7, 2009, and entitled, “Methods and Apparatus for QualityAssessment of a Field Service Operation Based on Dynamic AssessmentParameters.”

It should be appreciated that all combinations of the foregoing conceptsand additional concepts discussed in greater detail below (provided suchconcepts are not mutually inconsistent) are contemplated as being partof the inventive subject matter disclosed herein. In particular, allcombinations of claimed subject matter appearing at the end of thisdisclosure are contemplated as being part of the inventive subjectmatter disclosed herein. It should also be appreciated that terminologyexplicitly employed herein that also may appear in any disclosureincorporated by reference should be accorded a meaning most consistentwith the particular concepts disclosed herein.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The present disclosure, both as to its organization and manner ofoperation, together with further objectives and advantages, may be bestunderstood by reference to the following description, taken inconnection with the accompanying drawings as set forth below. Thedrawings are not necessarily to scale, emphasis instead generally beingplaced upon illustrating the principles of various inventiveembodiments.

FIG. 1 shows an example in which a locate and marking operation isinitiated as a result of an excavator providing an excavation notice toa one-call center;

FIG. 2 illustrates one example of a conventional locate instrument setincluding a locate transmitter and a locate receiver;

FIGS. 3A and 3B illustrate a conventional marking device in an actuatedand non-actuated state, respectively;

FIG. 4 illustrates a functional block diagram of an example of afacilities locate management system for use in underground facilitylocate operations, according to one embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 5 illustrates a flow chart of a method for managing a locateoperation, according to one embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 6A illustrates a functional block diagram that shows additionaldetails of an excavator device of the facilities locate managementsystem of FIG. 4, according to one embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 6B illustrates an example of a virtual white lines (VWL)application when in use on the excavator device shown in FIG. 6A,according to one embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 7 illustrates a functional block diagram that shows additionaldetails of a one-call center of the facilities locate management systemof FIG. 4, according to one embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 8 illustrates a functional block diagram that shows additionaldetails of a central server of the facilities locate management systemof FIG. 4, according to one embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 9 illustrates a functional block diagram that shows additionaldetails of a locate device of the facilities locate management system ofFIG. 4, according to one embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 10 illustrates a functional block diagram that shows additionaldetails of a marking device of the facilities locate management systemof FIG. 4, according to one embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 11A illustrates a functional block diagram that shows additionaldetails of a locate personnel device of the facilities locate managementsystem of FIG. 4, according to one embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 11B illustrates an example of an electronic manifest (EM)application when in use on the locate personnel device of FIG. 11A,according to one embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 11C illustrates exemplary details of an electronic manifest (EM)image generated by the electronic manifest application when in use onthe device of FIG. 11A, showing a graphical representation of the locateoperation according to one embodiment of the present invention; and

FIGS. 12A and 12B illustrate examples of an application service provider(ASP) model for implementing various aspects of a locate operationmanagement system, apparatus and methods according to one embodiment ofthe present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Various embodiments of the present invention relate to a managementsystem, and associated methods and apparatus, for providing increasedvisibility, improved quality control, proof of compliance and/orsignificant audit capability for underground facility locate operations.In various aspects described in detail herein, such systems, methods andapparatus in some instances employ improved instrumentation forperforming locate operations to facilitate data acquisition, storage andanalysis, as well as an improved communication infrastructure amongstvarious parties/entities with interest in, or otherwise related to,locate operations. Example of such parties/entities include, but are notlimited to, excavators, property owners, municipalities, facilityowners, locate contractors, regulatory authorities, industryassociations (e.g., industry consortia or alliances), insurancecompanies, damage investigators (assessors/adjustors), and auditors.

In particular, facilities locate management systems and associatedmethods and apparatus according to various embodiments disclosed hereinprovide communication infrastructure, software applications andcomputing devices, and various instruments for providing oversight andquality control across substantially the full scope of the undergroundfacility locate process. Methods and apparatus disclosed hereinencompass a broad management process associated with locate operations,which process may include, but is not limited to, one or more of: 1)submission of locate requests to a one-call center; 2) generation oflocate request tickets (“tickets”) based on locate requests, andtransmission of such tickets to various parties (locatecontractors/service providers, utility owners, municipalities overseeinglocate operations in their jurisdiction, technicians in the field,etc.); 3) assessment of locate request tickets to appropriately allocatetechnician resources; 4) dispatching of technicians to perform locateoperations pursuant to tickets; 5) provision of process guides and/orlocally displayed information to facilitate technician performance ofoperations; 6) acquisition of various information in connection withperformance of locate operations (and providing such information inconjunction with, or as part of, a “completed” ticket); 7) qualityassessment of operations (e.g., by processing “completed” tickets); 8)archiving of information relating to the locate operations and/orassessment of same; and 9) communication of relevant information to oneor more parties associated with the operations (e.g., apprising partiesrequesting locate operations of the status of operations and/or variousinformation germane to performance). In various exemplaryimplementations, one or more steps of the management process utilizeautomated applications and instruments for electronically documentingthe work performed, processing and/or analyzing the electronicinformation, and verifying the work performed in underground facilitylocate operations.

Following below are more detailed descriptions of various conceptsrelated to, and embodiments of, inventive systems, methods and apparatusfor managing locate operations. It should be appreciated that variousconcepts introduced above and discussed in greater detail below may beimplemented in any of numerous ways, as the disclosed concepts are notlimited to any particular manner of implementation. Examples of specificimplementations and applications are provided primarily for illustrativepurposes.

I. Overview

FIG. 4 illustrates a functional block diagram of an example of afacilities locate management system 100, according to one embodiment ofthe present invention, for managing underground facility locateoperations. In various aspects, the facilities locate management system100 includes one or more of various instrumentation (e.g., locatingequipment, such as one or more marking devices, one or more locatedevices, etc.) and computing devices (e.g., one or more computers,servers, portable/handheld computing devices, etc.), and utilizesavailable network infrastructure to provide communication of informationamongst respective elements of the system and various parties relatingto locate operations, from which relevant information may be acquiredand/or to which information may be provided. While FIG. 4 illustrates anumber of elements/parties that may exchange information with each otheras part of implementing the management system 100, it should beappreciated that not all of the elements/parties shown in FIG. 4 arenecessarily required to implement the various embodiments discussedherein of managements systems, and associated methods and apparatus. Inparticular, in various embodiments, different elements shown in FIG. 4,in a variety of combinations, may be employed to realize a particularimplementation of a management system according to the presentinvention.

In general, as shown in FIG. 4, facilities locate management system 100may include, but is not limited to, a central server 110, one or morelocate devices 119, one or more marking devices 120, one or morecombined locate and marking devices (not shown), one or more locatepersonnel devices 122, and an “onsite” computer 124 (e.g., a computingdevice that may be present at a work site/dig area, e.g., a tabletcomputer in a vehicle of the technician, a docking station located inthe technician's vehicle for securing one or more pieces of locatingequipment during transport, etc.). Other elements that may form part ofthe system 100 or communicate with the system 100 include, but are notlimited to, an image server 112, a facilities maps server 114, aone-call center 116, and one or more excavator devices 118. A network126 provides the communication link between any and/or allelements/entities relating to the facilities locate management system100. For example, network 126 provides the communication network bywhich information may be exchanged between central server 110, imageserver 112, facilities maps server 114, one-call center 116, excavatordevice(s) 118, locate device(s) 119, marking device(s) 120, locatepersonnel device(s) 122, and onsite computer(s) 124. Network 126 may be,for example, any local area network (LAN) and/or wide area network (WAN)for connecting to the Internet.

In order to connect to network 126, each element/entity of orcommunicating with facilities locate management system 100 includes oneor more communication interfaces to provide a communication link to andfrom each entity. For example, a communication interface 128 of centralserver 110, a communication interface 130 of image server 112, acommunication interface 132 of facilities maps server 114, acommunication interface 134 of one-call center 116, a communicationinterface 136 of excavator device 118, a communication interface 138 ofmarking device 120, a communication interface 139 of locate device 119,a communication interface 140 of locate personnel device 122, and acommunication interface 142 of onsite computer 124 may be used in orderto provide connectivity to network 126.

Communication interfaces 128, 130, 132, 134, 136, 138, 139, 140, and 142may be any wired and/or wireless communication interfaces by whichinformation may be exchanged between any entities of facilities locatemanagement system 100. Example wired communication interfaces mayinclude, but are not limited to, USB ports, RS232 connectors, RJ45connectors, Ethernet, and any combinations thereof. Example wirelesscommunication interfaces may include, but are not limited to, Bluetooth®technology, Wi-Fi, Wi-Max, IEEE 802.11 technology, radio frequency (RF),LAN, WAN, Internet, shared wireless access protocol (SWAP), InfraredData Association (IrDA) compatible protocols and other types of wirelessnetworking protocols, and any combinations thereof.

As also shown in FIG. 4, each element/entity of facilities locatemanagement system 100 generally includes a memory (e.g., one or morecomputer-readable storage media) to store processor-executableinstructions as well as other data (e.g., see memory 115, 125, 135, 147,186). Each entity also includes one or more processing units (e.g., amicroprocessor, microcontroller, FPGA, etc.; see processing units 117,127, 137, 149, 184) communicatively coupled to the communicationinterface and the memory, wherein upon execution of theprocessor-executable instructions by the processing unit, the processingunit performs a variety of functions as set forth in greater detailbelow for respective elements/entities. Generally speaking, many of thefunctionalities described herein and attributed to variouselements/entities of or in communication with the management systemshown in FIG. 4 may be encoded as processor-executable instructionsstored in/on one or more computer-readable storage media.

Facilities locate management system 100 is not limited to theapplications and instruments shown in FIG. 4. Any equipment, software ordata store that may be useful in an underground facilities locate and/ormapping operation may be included in facilities locate management system100. Furthermore, the configuration of facilities locate managementsystem 100 is not limited to one instance only of central server 110,image server 112, facilities maps server 114, one-call center 116,excavator device 118, locate device 119, marking device 120, locatepersonnel device 122, onsite computer 124, as shown in FIG. 4. Thesystem configuration of facilities locate management system 100 that isshown in FIG. 4 is exemplary only. Facilities locate management system100 may include one or more instances of central server 110, imageserver 112, facilities maps server 114, one-call center 116, excavatordevice 118, marking device 120, locate personnel device 122, and onsitecomputer 124.

Before providing additional details of respective elements/entities of,or in communication with, the facilities locate management system 100shown in FIG. 4, FIG. 5 provides a flow chart to graphically illustratevarious functionalities that may be generally implemented by such afacilities locate management system, according to various embodiments ofthe present invention. In particular, FIG. 5 provides a flow chart of anexemplary method 700 for managing a locate operation, that may beimplemented in whole or part by a facilities locate management systemaccording to the various concepts disclosed herein.

In the method outlined in FIG. 5, at step 710, a locate request thatincludes a virtual white line (VWL) image and/or a project request thatincludes a series of VWL images of the proposed work site(s)/digarea(s), is generated by a party requesting a locate operation (a“requesting party”), and submitted to a one-call center. For example,with reference again to FIG. 4, a certain excavator 154 may use a VWLapplication 156, as discussed in further detail below, to generate a VWLimage and/or series of VWL images and then submit a locate requestand/or project request, respectively, to a certain one-call center 116.In exemplary implementations, the VWL image may include a digital imageof a geographic area surrounding the work site(s), and may include oneor more “dig area indicators” superimposed on the digital image tocreate a marked-up image indicating one or more dig areas forproposed/planned excavation. In some implementations, rather than ortogether with the VWL image itself, metadata relating to image contents,i.e., one or more dig area indicators, may be included as part of thelocate request.

At step 712, a locate request ticket that includes a VWL image and/orinformation relating to a VWL image (e.g., metadata for one or more digarea indicators), and/or a project ticket that includes a series of VWLimages and/or information relating to the images, is generated by theone-call center 116 and transmitted from the one-call center to a partyreferred to herein as a “ticket recipient.” Examples of ticketrecipients include, but are not limited to, one or more locatecompanies/locate service providers, facility owners (responsible fortheir own locate operations), and municipalities (also responsible fortheir own locate operations). For example, in one embodiment, withreference again to FIG. 4, the locate request ticket that is generatedin step 710 is transmitted from the one-call center 116 to centralserver 110 that is maintained/operated by a ticket recipient (e.g., acertain locate company that is to perform the locate operation).

At step 714, one or more applications executing on the central server110 of the ticket recipient may process incoming tickets to assessvarious aspects of the requested locate operation (e.g., work scope,risk, complexity, etc.), may consult various information relating toavailable technician resources (e.g., shift information, technicianskill set and history, certification, security clearance, etc.), and mayallocate, schedule, and appropriately dispatch one or more techniciansto perform a locate operation pursuant to the received ticket.Dispatched technicians may be provided with “ticket information,” e.g.,various relevant information derived from the received locate requestticket to facilitate performance of the locate operation, upon dispatch,during travel to a work site, upon arrival to the work site, and/or uponuse of locating equipment.

At step 716, the locate technician that was dispatched in step 714arrives at the work site/dig area indicated in the ticket information.

At step 718, the locate technician performs the locate operation at thework site/dig area according to the ticket information. As notedearlier, it should be appreciated that during a given locate operation,underground facilities may or may not be found at the dig area, but thatgiven either a presence or absence of facilities, the performance of thelocate operation, including an inspection of the dig area, may beverified as completed by the locate technician. To this end, at step720, and also with reference again to FIG. 4, the technician maycomplete an electronic manifest of the locate operation, in which thetechnician uses a computing device (e.g., locate personnel device 122 oronsite computer 124) to execute an electronic manifest (EM) application164. Upon execution of the EM application, a digital image of the worksite and its surroundings may be received and displayed by the computingdevice and, using a drawing tool provided by the EM application, thetechnician may place one or more electronic indications on the digitalimage to reflect various aspects of the work performed during the locateoperation. In step 720, the technician may generate (e.g., transmit backto the central server 110 of the ticket recipient) a “completed” ticket,which may include or have attached thereto the electronic manifest andor information relating to same (e.g., a completed ticket may includeone or both of image data and non-image data relating to the locateoperation).

At decision step 722, it is determined whether the completed ticket ofthe current locate operation is to be subjected to a quality assessmentprocess, which may be performed at least in part, for example, at thecentral server of the ticket recipient. If the completed ticket is toundergo a quality assessment process, method 700 may proceed to step724; if not, method 700 may proceed to the end.

At step 724, with reference again to FIG. 4, the completed ticket of thecurrent locate operation may be processed by ticket approval application146 executing on the central server 110. If the completed ticket passesthe quality assessment process satisfactorily, method 700 may proceeddirectly to step 726 with no further action. If, however, the completedticket does not pass the quality assessment process satisfactorily, someform of quality control action may be taken (e.g., the technician may bere-dispatched to the work site, one or more supervisors may bedispatched to the work site, etc.).

At step 726, the completed ticket of the current locate operation isclassified as “approved.” In this way, the quality of the locateoperation may be certified. While not shown explicitly in FIG. 5, anyinformation relating to the locate operations, such as any informationcontained in the electronic manifest, and or any quality assessmentoutcomes resulting from the ticket approval process, may be archived toa data store (e.g., data store 144 of central server 110), and/or may becommunicated to any one or more elements/entities shown in FIG. 4 toprovide status and/or other information relating to the locateoperation. Thus, an approved completed locate request ticket may providea searchable electronic record of a locate operation, and such asearchable electronic record may provide for improved visibility,quality control and audit capability for underground facility locateoperations.

It should be appreciated that while the method 700 provides oneexemplary process for managing a locate operation according to thepresent invention, the underlying functionalities encompassed by themethod 700 may be performed by any of the various entities shown in FIG.4 and associated with the locate operation. For example, rather than aone-call center receiving a locate request including a VWL image from anexcavator, the one-call center may receive non-image related informationfrom an excavator or other requesting party and itself generate a locaterequest ticket including a VWL image, which may then be passed on to aticket recipient (e.g., a locate company) for performance of the locateoperation. Similarly, a locate company may receive non-image relatedinformation directly from an excavator or other requesting partyregarding a locate operation, and itself generate a locate requestticket including a VWL image, which is then dispatched to technicians toperform the locate operation.

Additionally, as noted above, the one-call center, excavator, or someentity other than the locate company may operate/oversee the centralserver 110 or a server with similar functionalities, such that variousfunctions attributed above to the central server 110 may instead beperformed/managed by the one-call center, excavator, or other entity.For example, in one exemplary implementation, the one-call center (orother entity) may receive information from a locate technician or locatecompany regarding the performance of a locate operation and the presenceor absence of underground facilities, and the one-call center itself maygenerate an EM image of the locate operation based on this receivedinformation, provide relevant non-image data with the image data, andmark a locate request ticket as completed. Furthermore, the one-callcenter (or other entity) may perform/manage a ticket approval processfor ensuring compliance of the locate operation with a predeterminedquality standard, and then store and/or transmit approved completedlocate request tickets as searchable electronic records.

Having generally outlined a method of managing locate operationsaccording to various embodiments of the present invention, additionaldetails of the various elements/entities illustrated in FIG. 4 are nowprovided.

I. EXCAVATORS/REQUESTING PARTIES

With reference again to FIG. 4, one or more excavators 154, or otherparties requesting locate operations (“requesting parties”) may beassociated with (e.g., in communication with) facilities locatemanagement system 100, and one or more excavator devices 118 used byrequesting parties may in some implementations constitute part of afacilities locate management system. While the following discussionfocuses an excavator as an exemplary requesting party for purposes ofillustration, it should be appreciated that the invention is not limitedin this respect. Furthermore, it should be appreciated that one or moreexcavator devices 118 need not necessarily form part of the locatemanagement system 100 in some implementations, but merely may be incommunication with other elements of the systems (e.g., via the network126).

As noted above, an excavator or other requesting party generally submitsa locate request to a one-call center. When a locate request issubmitted by an excavator 154 to a one-call center, such as one-callcenter 116, it may be beneficial for the excavator to indicate theparticular geographic location of the proposed excavation in a permanentand reproducible manner. The dig area thusly identified indicates to alocate technician the extent of the boundaries where a locate operationis to be performed at the request of the excavator. Physical whitelines, that may include chalk or paint on the surface of the ground, maybe used to physically delimit a dig area. However, these physical whitelines provide only a temporary indication of the dig area, as physicalwhite lines may deteriorate or be eliminated over time by certain eventssuch as precipitation, excessive pedestrian or vehicle traffic, erosion,the excavation process, or numerous other events. Consequently, eachexcavator 154 may utilize an excavator device 118 that has a “virtualwhite line” (VWL) application 156 installed thereon.

Excavator device 118 may be a computing device, such as portablecomputer, a personal computer, a general purpose computer, a tabletdevice, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a cellular radiotelephone, amobile computing device, a touch-screen device, a touchpad device, orgenerally any device including, or connected to, a processor and adisplay. Preferably, excavator device 118 is a portable computingdevice, such as laptop computer or tablet device.

VWL application 156 that resides on excavator device 118 may be adrawing application, which, in excavation applications, may be used bythe excavator 154 as a dig area marking tool. More specifically, VWLapplication 156 may be used by the excavator 154 to add markings to adisplayed input image (e.g., which input image may be represented bysource data 150 retrieved from image server 112 or facilities mapsserver 114) to indicate the dig area, thereby creating a marked-upimage. For example, VWL application 156 may be used in order tosuperimpose over or otherwise display one or more dig area indicators onthe digital image to indicate the dig area. As used herein, a “dig areaindicator” may include one or more lines, drawing shapes, shades,points, symbols, coordinates, data sets, or other indicators to indicateor delimit on a digital image the dig area in which excavation isplanned.

FIGS. 6A and 6B provide additional details of excavator device 118 andthe components thereof. The VWL application 156 may be implemented, forexample, as described in: U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/366,853filed Feb. 6, 2009, entitled “Virtual white lines for delimiting plannedexcavation sites;” U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/475,905 filedJun. 1, 2009, entitled “Virtual white lines for delimiting plannedexcavation sites of staged excavation projects;” U.S. patent applicationSer. No. 12/422,364 filed Apr. 13, 2009, entitled “Virtual white lines(VWL) application for indicating a planned excavation or locate path.”Each of these patent applications is hereby incorporated by referenceherein in its entirety.

FIG. 6A illustrates a functional block diagram that shows additionaldetails of excavator device 118 of the facilities locate managementsystem of the present disclosure. FIG. 6A shows communication interface136 and VWL application 156 of FIG. 4, as well as a memory and aprocessing unit. Excavator device 118 may be used by an excavator 154 togenerate a locate request 168A. Associated with the current locaterequest 168A may be a certain VWL image 170 that is generated by theexcavator 154 using VWL application 156 (e.g., stored in the memory andexecuted by the processing unit). An example of VWL application 156 whenin use is shown with reference to FIG. 6B.

A local image cache 178 of excavator device 118 may be used to store,for example, source data 150 from image server 112 and/or from centralserver 110 (discussed in further detail below). Source data 150 may beused by VWL application 156 to display one or more input images that maybe marked up (e.g., with a dig area indicator 180) to indicate a digarea and thereby create VWL image 170, which may also be stored in localimage cache 178.

FIG. 6B illustrates an example of VWL application 156 when in use onexcavator device 118 by, for example, a certain excavator 154. In thisexample, excavator device 118 is a portable computer that has VWLapplication 156 executing thereon. FIG. 6B shows a graphical userinterface (GUI) of VWL application 156 that may be presented to the uservia the display of excavator device 118. More specifically, a certainsource data 150 that corresponds to the location of the current proposedexcavation is read into VWL application 156 and displayed on excavatordevice 118. The excavator 154 may then use various drawing tools (e.g.,color pallet, lines, shapes, etc.) that are provided on the GUI of VWLapplication 156 in order to electronically sketch one or more dig areaindicators 180, which are provided in this example to delimit the digarea.

In one example, one or more dig area indicators 180 that are placed uponthe displayed input image represented by source data 150 may be dottedor dashed lines (e.g., rendered in the color white) as shown in FIG. 6B.When the sketch of the dig area indicator(s) 180 on the displayed inputimage is complete for the current proposed dig area, the marked up imageis saved as a VWL image 170. This VWL image 170, and/or any underlyinginformation/metadata regarding the image contents (e.g., geo-locationcoordinates representing the one or more dig area indicators), isassociated with (e.g., attached to or included in) the current locaterequest 168A, which may then be transmitted to one-call center 116 forprocessing in order to initiate a locate operation.

II. IMAGE SERVER

With reference again to FIG. 4, image server 112 may be any computerdevice for storing and providing source data 150 for input images ofgeographic areas including a work site/dig area. Such input images maybe displayed on a display device at any of the elements/entitiesassociated with the management system 100 (e.g., an excavator device118, a locate personnel device 122, optional onsite computers 124,etc.). As discussed above, source data provided by the image server maybe used to create VWL images; additionally, as discussed in greaterdetail below, an input image of a geographic area may be electronicallymarked-up to not only provide a digital representation of the dig areaitself, but alternatively or also a digital representation of one ormore electronic detection marks indicating where facilities are detectedby a locate device, and/or one or more electronic locate marksindicating where physical locate marks were applied to ground, pavementor other surface during a marking operation.

For purposes of the present disclosure, an input image is any imagerepresented by source data 150 that may be electronically processed(e.g., the source data is in a computer-readable format) to display theimage on a display device. An input image may include any of a varietyof paper/tangible image sources that are scanned (e.g., via anelectronic scanner) or otherwise converted so as to create source data(e.g., in various formats such as XML, PDF, JPG, BMP, etc.) that can beprocessed to display the input image. An input image also may include animage that originates as source data or an electronic file withoutnecessarily having a corresponding paper/tangible copy of the image(e.g., an image of a “real-world” scene acquired by a digital stillframe or video camera or other image acquisition device, in which thesource data, at least in part, represents pixel information from theimage acquisition device).

In some exemplary implementations, input images according to the presentdisclosure may be created, provided, and/or processed by a geographicinformation system (GIS) that captures, stores, analyzes, manages andpresents data referring to (or linked to) location, such that the sourcedata representing the input image includes pixel information from animage acquisition device (corresponding to an acquired “real world”scene or representation thereof), and/or spatial/geographic information(“geo-encoded information”). In this manner, a GIS provides a frameworkfor data manipulation and display of images that may facilitate one ormore of (a) location verification, (b) location correlation, (c)locational relationships, (d) district coding, (e) route analysis, (f)area analysis and (g) mapping/display creation, for example.

In view of the foregoing, various examples of input images and sourcedata 150 representing input images according to the present disclosure,to which the inventive concepts disclosed herein may be applied, includebut are not limited to:

-   -   Manual “free-hand” paper sketches of the geographic area (which        may include one or more buildings, natural or man-made        landmarks, property boundaries, streets/intersections, public        works or facilities such as street lighting, signage, fire        hydrants, mail boxes, parking meters, etc.);    -   Various maps indicating surface features and/or extents of        geographical areas, such as street/road maps, topographical        maps, military maps, parcel maps, tax maps, town and county        planning maps, call-center and/or facility polygon maps, virtual        maps, etc. (such maps may or may not include geo-encoded        information);    -   Facility maps illustrating installed underground facilities,        such as gas, power, telephone, cable, fiber optics, water,        sewer, drainage, etc. Facility maps may also indicate        street-level features (streets, buildings, public facilities,        etc.) in relation to the depicted underground facilities.        Examples of facility maps include CAD drawings that may be        created and viewed with a GIS to include geo-encoded information        (e.g., metadata) that provides location information (e.g.,        infrastructure vectors) for represented items on the facility        map;    -   Architectural, construction and/or engineering drawings and        virtual renditions of a space/geographic area (including “as        built” or post-construction drawings);    -   Land surveys, i.e., plots produced at ground level using        references to known points such as the center line of a street        to plot the metes and bounds and related location data regarding        a building, parcel, utility, roadway, or other object or        installation;    -   A grid (a pattern of horizontal and vertical lines used as a        reference) to provide representational geographic information        (which may be used “as is” for an input image or as an overlay        for an acquired “real world” scene, drawing, map, etc.);    -   “Bare” data representing geo-encoded information (geographical        data points) and not necessarily derived from an        acquired/captured real-world scene (e.g., not pixel information        from a digital camera or other digital image acquisition        device). Such “bare” data may be nonetheless used to construct a        displayed input image, and may be in any of a variety of        computer-readable formats, including XML); and    -   Photographic renderings/images, including street level,        topographical, satellite, and aerial photographic        renderings/images, any of which may be updated periodically to        capture changes in a given geographic area over time (e.g.,        seasonal changes such as foliage density, which may variably        impact the ability to see some aspects of the image).

It should also be appreciated that source data 150 representing an inputimage may be compiled from multiple data/information sources; forexample, any two or more of the examples provided above for input imagesand source data representing input images, or any two or more other datasources, can provide information that can be combined or integrated toform source data that is electronically processed to display an image ona display device.

Image server 112 may be associated with the same, or a different, partythat maintains central server 110. For example, image server 112 may beassociated with a party that provides source data 150 for a fee. Asnoted above, source data 150 from image server 112 may includegeo-coding or other geographical identification metadata and may beprovided in any computer-readable format, such as JPEG file interchangeformat (JPEG), tagged image file format (TIFF), portable document format(PDF), graphics interchange format (GIF), bitmap (BMP), portable networkgraphics (PNG), Windows® metafile (WMF), and/or the like. In addition,source data 150 from image server 112 may include a combination ofimages or overlays, such as overlays of street names, regions, landmarkdescriptions, and/or other information about areas displayed in animage. Source data 150 from image server 112 may be supplied by athird-party provider if the coverage area of the third-party imageprovider overlaps with the desired area of the user.

III. FACILITIES MAPS SERVER

As noted above, the source data 150 provided by image server 112 mayencompass data representing facility maps. However, in someimplementations a dedicated server, such as facilities maps server 114,may be included in the management system 100 shown in FIG. 4 tospecifically provide source data representing facilities maps 152. Likethe more general image server 112, the facilities maps server 114 may beany computer device for storing and providing facilities maps 152, or anelectronic database of facilities map information, relating to thegeographic location of any physical plant of any type of utility.Facilities maps server 114 may be associated with the same, or adifferent, party that maintains central server 110 and/or image server112. In one example, one or more facilities maps servers 114 aremaintained by the owner of the facilities.

Facilities maps 152 are any electronic representation of the geographiclocation, type, number, and/or other attributes of a facility orfacilities. Facilities maps may be supplied by various facility ownersand may indicate the geographic location of the facility lines (e.g.,pipes, cables, and the like) owned and/or operated by the facilityowner. For example, facilities maps may be supplied by the owner of thegas facilities, power facilities, telecommunications facilities, waterand sewer facilities, and so on.

Facilities maps may be provided in any of a variety of differentformats. As facilities maps often are provided by facility owners of agiven type of facility, typically a set of facilities maps includes agroup of maps covering a particular geographic region and directed toshowing a particular type of facility disposed/deployed throughout thegeographic region. One facilities map of such a set of maps is sometimesreferred to in the relevant arts as a “plat.”

An electronic facilities map may in some instances simply be anelectronic conversion (i.e., a scan) of a paper facilities map thatincludes no other information (e.g., electronic information) describingthe content of the map, other than what is printed on the paper maps.Alternatively, however, more sophisticated facilities maps also areavailable which include a variety of electronic information, includinggeographic information and other detailed information, regarding thecontents of various features included in the maps. In particular,facilities maps may be formatted as geographic information system (GIS)map data, in which map features (e.g., facility lines and otherfeatures) are represented as shapes and/or lines, and the metadata thatdescribes the geographic locations and types of map features isassociated with the map features. In some examples, a GIS map data mayindicate a facility line using a straight line (or series of straightlines), and may include some symbol or other annotation (e.g., a diamondshape) at each endpoint of the line to indicate where the line beginsand terminates. From the foregoing, it should be appreciated that insome instances in which the geo-locations of two termination orend-points of a given facility line may be provided by the map, thegeo-location of any point on the facility line may be determined fromthese two end-points.

Examples of a wide variety of environmental landmarks and other featuresthat may be represented in GIS facilities map data include, but are notlimited to: landmarks relating to facilities such as pedestal boxes,utility poles, fire hydrants, manhole covers and the like; one or morearchitectural elements (e.g., buildings); and/or one or more trafficinfrastructure elements (e.g., streets, intersections, curbs, ramps,bridges, tunnels, etc.). GIS facilities map data may also includevarious shapes or symbols indicating different environmental landmarksrelating to facilities, architectural elements, and/or trafficinfrastructure elements.

Examples of information provided by metadata include, but are notlimited to, information about the geo-location of various points along agiven line, the termination points of a given line (e.g., the diamondshapes indicating the start and end of the line), the type of facilityline (e.g., facility type and whether the line is a service line ormain), geo-location of various shapes and/or symbols for other featuresrepresented in the map (environmental landmarks relating to facilities,architectural elements, and/or traffic infrastructure elements), andtype information relating to shapes and/or symbols for such otherfeatures.

The GIS map data and metadata may be stored in any of a variety of ways.For example, in some embodiments, the GIS map data and metadata may beorganized into files, where each file includes the map data and metadatafor a particular geographic region. In other embodiments, the GIS mapdata and metadata may be stored in database and may be indexed in thedatabase by the geographical region to which the map data and metadatacorresponds.

Facilities maps may include additional information that may be useful tofacilitate a locate and/or marking operation. For example, variousinformation that may be included in a legend of the facilities map, orotherwise associated with the facilities map (e.g., included in themetadata or otherwise represented on the map), may include, but is notlimited to, a date of the facilities map (e.g., when the map was firstgenerated/created, and/or additional dates corresponding toupdates/revisions), a number of revisions to the facilities map (e.g.,revision number, which may in some instances be associated with a date),one or more identifiers for a source, creator, owner and/or custodian ofthe facilities map (e.g., the owner of the facility type represented inthe map), various text information (e.g., annotations to update one ormore aspects or elements of the map), and any other legend informationthat may be included or represented in the map.

For facilities maps in electronic form, a variety of digital formats offacilities maps may be used including, but not limited to, a vectorimage format that is the typical output format of computer-aided design(CAD) tools. In one example, some facilities maps may be in a DWG(“drawing”) format, which is a format that used for storing two andthree dimensional design data and metadata, and is a native used byseveral CAD packages including AutoCAD, Intellicad, and PowerCAD.However, those skilled in the art will recognize that facilities mapsmay be in any of several vector and/or raster image formats, such as,but not limited to, DWG, DWF, DGN, PDF, TIFF, MFI, PMF, and JPG.

As noted above, in some instances in which facilities maps are in avector image format, a certain line on the facilities map may berepresented by a starting point geo-location, an ending pointgeo-location, and metadata about the line (e.g., type of line, depth ofline, width of line, distance of line from a reference point (i.e.,tie-down), overhead, underground, line specifications, etc.). Accordingto one embodiment of the present invention as discussed in greaterdetail below, to facilitate display of facilities map informationrelating to multiple different types of facilities, each vector imagemay be assembled in layers, in which respective layers correspond, forexample, to different types of facilities (e.g., gas, water, electric,telecommunications, etc.). In one aspect of such an embodiment, eachlayer is, for example, a set of vector images that are grouped togetherin order to render the representation of the certain type of facility.

IV. ONE-CALL CENTERS

With reference again to FIG. 4, and as discussed above in connectionwith FIG. 1, one-call center 116 may be any organization, entity, and/orsystem that receives and/or processes locate requests, and/or transmitsan underground facility locate request ticket to a ticket recipient. Thelocate request ticket may be any communication or instruction to performan underground facility locate operation. One-call centers are generallyowned, controlled, or funded by underground facility owners, such astelephone companies, cable television multiple system operators,electric utilities, gas utilities, or others. One-call center operationsmay be managed as a non-profit entity or outsourced to a for-profitfirm. Excavators, such as excavators 154, are required to notifyone-call centers in advance of their excavation activities and identifythrough the locate request the dig area where individual excavatingactivities will be performed. Locate requests include informationsupplied by the excavator to the one-call center regarding the specificgeographic location of the dig area, date, time, purpose of excavation,and so on. The locate request ticket, in turn, requires activity from anunderground facility owner to perform a locate operation in thespecified dig area. The dig area may be any specified geographic areawithin which excavation may occur.

FIG. 7 illustrates a functional block diagram that shows additionaldetails of one-call center 116. As with the excavator devices 118, itshould be appreciated that in some embodiments, the one-call center 116does not necessarily form part of the facilities locate managementsystem 100 shown in FIG. 4, but is merely an entity that communicateswith the facilities locate management system (as the one-call center andthe facilities locate management system may be operated by differententities). In other embodiments, however, the one-call center may formpart of the facilities locate management system (e.g., the one-centermay be managed by the same party operating the central server 110).

FIG. 7 shows communication interface 134 and VWL application 158 of FIG.4. One-call center 116 processes the locate requests 168A that aresubmitted by excavators 154 using their respective excavator devices118. In this example, locate requests 168A are in electronic form. Eachlocate request 168A may include a respective VWL image 170 and/ordata/information relating thereto (as described above in connection withFIGS. 6A and 6B). Again, VWL images 170 may be generated by excavators154 using VWL application 156 via their respective excavation devices118. Optionally, VWL images 170 may be generated by personnel atone-call center 116 using VWL application 158.

When optional VWL application 158 is present at one-call center 116,one-call center 116 may additionally include a local image cache 176.Stored in local image cache 176 may be, for example, certain source data150 from image server 112 and/or from central server 110. Source data150 may be used by VWL application 158 as the input image(s) that may bemarked up in order to create VWL images 170, which may also be stored inlocal image cache 176, that show in a graphical (or other) manner thedig area.

V. CENTRAL SERVER

With reference again to FIG. 4, as noted earlier central server 110 maybe a centralized or distributed computer system operated by an entitythat receives locate request tickets and that oversees locate operationspursuant to such tickets (e.g., a locate contractor/locate serviceprovider, a facility owner, a municipality, etc.). For purposes of thefollowing discussion, a locate service provider is taken as an exemplaryticket recipient and responsible for overseeing a technician workforceto perform locate operations; however, it should be appreciated that theinvention is not limited in this respect, as various parties may receivetickets and operate a central server similar to that described herein.Additionally, it should be appreciated that not only may various ticketrecipients implement a central server having the various functionalitydescribed herein, but other entities such as regulatory authorities,industry associations (e.g., consortia/alliances), insurance companies,damage investigators, and the like may similarly implement such centralserver systems, and any of the various functionality associatedtherewith, to accommodate their interests in, and/or audit needs, inconnection with locate operations.

In some implementations, the central server 110 essentially serves asthe “heart” of the facilities locate management system 100 shown in FIG.4, in that many of the salient functions of the management processdiscussed in connection with FIG. 5 are performed and/or initiated viaone or more applications executing on the central server 110;additionally, significant information germane to the management oflocate operations generally flows through, or under the direction of,applications executing on the central server 110. To this end, thecentral server 110 includes one or more processing units 117, memory115, and one or more communication interfaces 128. While the centralserver 110 may be utilized for managing the overall operations offacilities locate management system 100, it should be appreciated thatone or more applications and/or information that reside on centralserver 110 may be accessible by any other elements/entities thatcommunicate with or form part of the facilities locate management system100 via network 126. For example, central server 110 may further includea data store 144 for storing any information that may be useful to, orgenerated by, various elements/entities and/or instrumentationassociated with the facilities locate management system 100.

FIG. 8 illustrates a functional block diagram that shows additionaldetails of central server 110. FIG. 8 shows communication link 128, datastore 144, and ticket approval application 146 which were alsoillustrated in FIG. 4, plus additional details of the central server110. In the central server 110 shown in FIG. 8, data store 144 mayreside on the hard disk of central server 110. Data store 144 may be anysubstantially permanent storehouse of data. In one example, data store144 may be a relational database that is created and maintained by anysuitable database software. For example, data store 144 may store alldata relevant to any combination of relationships or requirements amongfacility owners, one-call centers, facility locate service providers,excavators, regulators and insurers including, without limitation,locate request tickets 168B, completed tickets 172, VWL applications 156or 158, EM application 164, ticket approval application 146, source data150, information returned from each locate operation, facility damageclaims and so on.

An image cache 166 may reside at data store 144. Image cache 166 may beused to store cached images, such as cached source data 150 from imageserver 112, and the like. For example, the cached source data 150 ofimage cache 166 may be used by certain applications of facilities locatemanagement system 100, such as, but not limited to, ticket approvalapplication 146, VWL applications 156 or 158, and EM application 164.Additionally, any collection of facilities maps 152 or facilities mapinformation from facilities maps server 114 may reside at data store144. Additionally, a collection of locate request tickets 168B that aregenerated by and received from one-call center 116 may reside at datastore 144. As discussed above, each locate request ticket 168B mayinclude a VWL image 170 and/or image information relating to thecontents of a VWL image.

The central server 110 may also be configured to execute a workforcemanagement application 145, which may have various components tofacilitate assessment and/or processing of locate request tickets 168B,dispatching of technicians (locate personnel 160) to perform locateoperations pursuant to locate request tickets, and/or provide variousnotifications (“positive response notifications”) to requesting partiesor other parties regarding the status of locate operations and/orvarious information attendant thereto.

For example, in one implementation, the workforce management application145 may include a ticket assessment and/or processing component 145A. Inexemplary aspects, the ticket assessment and/or processing component145A may parse received tickets to extract relevant information, and/orperform a comprehensive assessment process based on informationextracted from the ticket (i.e., “ticket information”), to facilitateefficient scheduling of locate activities and appropriate allocation oftechnician resources to locate operations. In other aspects, the ticketassessment and/or processing component 145A may review received ticketsto establish the integrity, accuracy, and/or completeness of ticketinformation in connection with specified location of planned excavation,and provide assessments relating to scope of work (amount and nature ofwork), complexity involved, duration (amount of time required), risk(potential liability for damages), business value (penalty and/orprofitability), and skill/certification requirements for technicians inperforming the operation. Additional details of the ticket assessmentand/or processing component 145A are discussed in U.S. provisionalpatent application No. 61/220,491, filed Jun. 25, 2009 under AttorneyDocket No. D0687.70034US00, entitled, “Methods and Apparatus forAssessing Field Service Operation Tickets,” which application is herebyincorporated herein by reference.

As shown in FIG. 8, the workforce management application 145 also mayinclude a technician dispatch component 145B. In one implementation ofthe technician dispatch component, ticket assessment outcomes providedby the ticket assessment and/or processing component 145A may be used asinputs to the technician dispatch component to inform a schedulingprocess for dispatching technicians. In other implementations, moregenerally, the technician dispatch component 145B may provide forscheduling of technicians and allocation of technicians to particularlocate operations based at least in part on one or more of: performancedeadlines for the locate operations and relevant shift times ofavailable technicians; various parameters relating to the operationsthemselves (job performance information and/or quality assessmentinformation), technicians (e.g., historical efficiencies, particularskills/certification, security clearance), and/or relevant environmentalconditions (e.g., weather, traffic); ticket assessment outcomes (e.g.,risk information; penalty or profitability information; complexityinformation; technician skill/certification requirements); contractualobligations between the entity dispatching technicians and responsiblefor/overseeing the locate operations, and one or more parties for whichthe operation(s) is/are being performed; statutory and/or regulatoryrequirements, such as wage and hour compliance for resources (e.g.,availability of resources for scheduling complies with applicable wageand hour statutes/regulations), and/or the time and/or manner in which agiven operations needs to be performed pursuant to applicablestatutes/regulations. In one aspect, the technician dispatch component145B may also access technician resource information 173, which may bestored in the data store 144 of the central server and which may containa variety of information regarding technician resources, to facilitateallocation of locate operations to available technician resources andscheduling of locate operations. Additional details of the techniciandispatch component 145B are discussed in U.S. non-provisionalapplication Ser. No. 12/699,921, filed on Feb. 4, 2010 under attorneydocket no. D0687.70027US02, entitled “Methods, Apparatus, and Systemsfor Dispatching Service Technicians,” which application is herebyincorporated herein by reference.

In yet another aspect of the workforce management application 145 of thecentral server 110 shown in FIG. 8, the ticket assessment/processingcomponent 145A further may provide a process guide to a technician, oncedispatched, to facilitate performance of the locate operation. Forexample, ticket information (which may include an original locaterequest ticket issued by a one-call center, a work order derived fromone or more locate request tickets, or other process guide) may bedisplayed and/or processed on one or more pieces of locating equipmentused in the field by a technician, and/or one or more other computingdevices (e.g., tablet computer, personal digital assistant, smart phone,or other portable/handheld computing device). As part of performing thelocate operation, the technician may provide some input to generate anelectronic record or log of technician activity during the operation.

In one exemplary implementation, pursuant to execution at the centralserver 110 of the ticket assessment/processing component 145A, a processguide in the form of a checklist may be generated (e.g., based at leastin part on the ticket information), for example at the central server110 and then downloaded to the locating equipment (e.g., locate device119 and/or marking device 120 shown in FIG. 4) and/or locate personneldevices 122 or onsite computers 124, and may be displayed locally to thetechnician as a guide to perform and verify various aspects of thelocate operation. In another exemplary implementation, a set ofinstructions or “workflow” may be generated on the central server, andthen downloaded to locating equipment, locate personnel devices oronsite computers, to guide the technician through a sequence of steps toperform the locate operation. Performance via a process guide (e.g.,checklist or workflow) may be interactive in that the technician mayprovide input, or automated/semi-automated by analyzing variousinformation collected by the locating equipment with respect to theticket information and/or other available information germane to theoperation(s). Additional details of the functionality of the ticketassessment and/or processing component 145A in connection with thegeneration of process guides are discussed in detail in U.S.non-provisional application Ser. No. 12/703,809, filed Feb. 11, 2010,entitled “Marking Apparatus Equipped with Ticket Processing Software forFacilitating Marking Operations, and Associated Methods,” whichapplication is hereby incorporated herein by reference.

As discussed further below, once a technician is dispatched, arrives ata work site, and perform a locate operation, a wide variety ofinformation may be available and acquired to electronically documentperformance of the operation, as well as environmental and otherinformation germane to the locate operation, the technician, and/or thework site. Performance of a locate operation typically is associatedwith a “completed” ticket, wherein a technician provides some electroniccommunication or indication that the locate operation was at leastattempted, if not completed pursuant to the locate request ticket. Asdiscussed above, for purposes of the present disclosure, a “completed”electronic locate request ticket refers to an electronic communicationgenerated by a technician indicating that a locate operation has beenattempted or performed, at least to some extent. Accordingly, it shouldbe appreciated that a “completed” ticket does not necessarily imply thata locate operation itself was successfully performed in its entirety (asdictated by one or more locate request tickets), but that it was atleast initiated and attempted in some fashion. For example, a technicianmay be dispatched to a work site, may begin performing a locateoperation, and may encounter some unforeseen impediment to completingthe operation, or some condition or circumstance that warrants specialaction or attention. Accordingly, the technician may generate a“completed” ticket that reflects the attempted operation but in somemanner reflects the anomalous situation attendant to the attemptedlocate operation.

With reference again to FIG. 8, the data store 144 of the central server110 accordingly may store a collection of completed tickets 172 receivedby the central server 110, for example, from one or more locatepersonnel devices 122, onsite computers 124, or various locatingequipment used to perform the locate operation (e.g., locate device 119,marking device 120). As discussed in greater detail below, a completedticket 172 may include an electronic manifest (EM) image 174. In someembodiments, an EM image 174 may be based on a previously-generated VWLimage 170, i.e., source data 150 that has been marked-up with virtualwhite lines, wherein the VWL image is further marked-up to show the workperformed during the locate operation (e.g., detection and/or marking ofone or more underground facilities). EM images 174 may be generated atleast in part by locate personnel 160 using EM application 164 onhis/her locate personnel device 122 (or onsite computer 124), and/or atleast in part based on information acquired by various locatingequipment used for the locate operation.

More specifically, an EM image 174 may show the original dig areaindicator(s) from the original VWL image 170. Additionally, the EM image174 may show one or more types of facilities, the presence of which havebeen determined (detected and/or marked) during the locate operation.Each facility type may be graphically represented with a certain colorline in EM image 174; as discussed above, in some implementations such aline represents where a presence of a facility was detected (e.g.,electronic detection marks) and/or where physical locate marks wereapplied to the dig area to indicate the presence of the facility (e.g.,electronic locate marks). Additionally, the EM image 174 may show one ormore environmental landmarks. An environmental landmark may be anylocation specified by any means that is used or can be used as areference point for measurement or orientation. Examples of anenvironmental landmark may include, but are not limited to, a tree, acurb, a driveway, a utility pole, a fire hydrant, a storm drain, apedestal, a water meter box, a manhole lid, a building structure, alight post, or a set of global positioning system coordinates. Anexample of an EM image 174 is shown with reference to FIG. 11C.

As also noted above, in some implementations an EM image 174 need notinclude one or more dig area indicators previously placed on an inputimage by an excavator, other requesting party, or one-call center toindicate a dig area, but may merely include one or more electronicdetection marks and/or electronic locate marks to digitally representthe presence of an underground facility. Also, as noted above, in somecompleted tickets an EM image 174 may have no markings on it at all, andnonetheless be useful for documenting a “clear” locate operation inwhich no underground facilities were found.

In sum, with respect to completed locate request tickets 172, acompleted ticket may include one or both of image data and non-imagedata associated with the dig area. The image data may include at leastone image of a geographic area including the dig area, wherein theimage(s) may not be marked-up at all (e.g., in the case of a “clear”),or the image(s) may be marked-up images including one or more dig areaindicators (e.g., virtual white lines) to provide an indication of thedig area, and/or one or more electronic detection marks and/orelectronic locate marks to indicate a presence (or in some cases anabsence) of one or more underground facilities. Examples of non-imagedata that may be included in or otherwise associated with the completedlocate request ticket may include, but are not limited to, one or moreof the following: a text description of the dig area; a plurality ofgeographic coordinates associated with one or more dig area indicatorsand/or one or more electronic detection marks or electronic locate markindicators; an address or a lot number of at least one property withinwhich the dig area is located; a street intersection in a vicinity ofthe dig area; a date and/or time of day for an excavation of the digarea; a first identifier associated with an excavator to perform theexcavation activities; a second identifier associated with at least oneenvironmental landmark in the vicinity of the dig area; a ticketidentifier for the locate request ticket; a timestamp to indicate when alocate operation was performed; one or more identifiers (e.g., name, IDnumber, phone number, address, signature, etc.) for a locate technician,a locate company, and/or a utility associated with one or moreunderground facilities. The image data and the non-image data may beformatted in any of a number of ways; for example, the non-image datamay be associated with the image data as a separate data set linked tothe image data, as metadata to the image data, as some other type ofcombined file including both image and non-image data, etc., so as tocreate a searchable electronic record that may be consulted to verifythat the locate operation was indeed completed, and assess the integrity(e.g., quality, timeliness, accuracy, etc.) of the locate operation.

To this end, the central server 110 shown in FIG. 8 also may beconfigured to execute a ticket approval application 146 for the purposeof performing a quality assessment on completed tickets. In oneexemplary embodiment, one or more approvers 148 may be associated withexecution and/or monitoring of ticket approval application 146.Approvers 148 may be, for example, any personnel associated with theunderground facility locate service provider (or other entity receivinglocate request tickets), such as, but not limited to, the supervisors oflocate technicians that are dispatched into the field, quality controlsupervisors, and/or any management personnel. In another example,approvers 148 may be any personnel associated with excavators 154 suchas, but not limited to, the supervisors of excavators that aredispatched into the field, quality control supervisors, and/or anymanagement personnel. In additional examples, approvers 148 may be anypersonnel associated with one-call centers 116, underground facilityowners (not shown) and/or federal, state or local regulatory agencies(not shown).

In some implementations, ticket approval application 146 may use andshare the information of each completed ticket 172 that has an EM image174 in order to rapidly access the quality of the work performed in thefield. This assessment may be by visual inspection of each completedticket 172 by one or more approvers 148 and/or by processing theinformation contained in a completed ticket to assess compliance with apredetermined quality standard for the locate operation. For example, inone implementation, the information of each completed ticket 172 thathas an EM image 174 may be analyzed by comparing the EM image againstone or more facilities maps 152 or facilities map information thatcorrespond to the geographic location associated with the completedticket 172.

Thus, ticket approval application 146 provides for quality controland/or assessment of compliance functions (e.g., compliance with apredetermined quality standard for the locate operation). In exemplaryimplementations, the ticket approval process may comprise obtaining afield service ticket, performing a task according to the field serviceticket, collecting data associated with the field service ticket andtransmitting the data to a work management server that includes adatabase and approval applications for processing and analyzinginformation contained in the ticket and assessing compliance with apredetermined quality standard. In yet other aspects of the ticketapproval application 146, completed tickets may be reviewed, inessentially real-time during performance of a locate operation, and/orat any time following attempt/completion of a locate operation, toprovide a quality assessment of the locate operation (e.g., anassessment of the completeness, accuracy, and/or efficiency of theoperation).

In sum, quality assessment processes according to various embodiments,as facilitated by the ticket approval application 146, may be primarilyunder the discretion of a human reviewer, albeit facilitated in somerespects by computer-aided display of information, and electronic recordkeeping and communication functions associated with the qualityassessment result(s). In other embodiments, information related to alocate operation (e.g., electronic manifest information accompanying orconstituting a completed ticket) is electronically analyzed such that aquality assessment is based at least in part on some predeterminedcriteria and/or metrics that facilitate an automated determination ofquality assessment. In one aspect, if the locate operation representedby the completed ticket complies with a predetermined quality standard(e.g., based on predetermined criteria and/or metrics), the locateoperation may be “approved” (e.g., a quality assessment process/enginemay generate an “approved completed locate request ticket”). In anotheraspect, real-time quality assessment during performance of a locateoperation may facilitate identification of risks or problems that may beflagged for proactive corrective action (e.g., immediately, or as soonas practicable).

Additional details regarding the ticket approval application 146 andexecution of same by the central server are described in the followingapplications, each of which is incorporated herein by reference: U.S.patent application Ser. No. 12/493,109, filed on Jun. 26, 2009, entitled“Methods and Apparatus for Quality Assessment of a Field ServiceOperation;” U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/557,732, filed on Aug.7, 2009, entitled “Methods and Apparatus for Quality Assessment of aField Service Operation Based on Geographic Information;” U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 12/571,356, filed on Sep. 30, 2009, entitled“Methods and Apparatus for Analyzing Locate and Marking Operations withRespect to Facilities Maps;” U.S. patent application Ser. No.12/572,202, filed on Oct. 1, 2009, entitled “Methods and Apparatus forAnalyzing Locate and Marking Operations with Respect to HistoricalInformation;” U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/568,087, filed on Sep.28, 2009, entitled “Methods and Apparatus for Generating an ElectronicRecord of Environmental Landmarks Based on Marking Device Actuations;”and U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/572,260, filed on Oct. 1, 2009,entitled “Methods and Apparatus for Analyzing Locate and MarkingOperations with Respect to Environmental Landmarks.”

For example, in accordance with various embodiments described inabove-referenced applications, a quality assessment of a locateoperation may be performed based on the collected locating equipmentdata (which may or may not form part of an EM image or the dateunderlying same), with or without human input. In some embodiments, thecollected locating equipment data may be compared to “referenceinformation” or “reference data” (which in some instances is derivedfrom information/data contained in a “reference” electronic record).Examples of types of reference information/data used in a qualityassessment process may include, but are not limited to: 1)information/data derived from or relating to one or more facilities mapsthat illustrate the presumed locations of underground facilitiespurportedly present in a geographic area proximate to or surrounding andsubsuming the work site; 2) information/data derived from or relating toone or more previous locate and/or marking operations at or near thework site (referred to herein as “historical tickets” or “historicaldata”); and/or 3) information/data relating to one or more environmentallandmarks present in a geographic area proximate to or surrounding andsubsuming the dig area (e.g., the work site and its environs), or withinthe dig area itself (referred to herein as “landmark information,” whichmay be available, for example, from facilities maps, historical tickets,and/or field data collected at or around the time of the locate and/ormarking operation being assessed). For each type of referenceinformation, suitable criteria and/or metrics may be developed tofacilitate an automated determination of quality assessment.

In yet other aspects, various quality assessment functions may beimplemented in a centralized or distributed fashion. For example, in oneimplementation, alternatively to or in addition to the central server110 receiving and analyzing completed tickets, other computing device(s)operated by a locate service provider or other entity may collectrelevant information from the field relating to locate operations andperform quality assessments of same. In some implementations discussedin further detail below, intelligent locating equipment may beconfigured to perform some degree of quality assessment local to thework site; for example, intelligent locating equipment may be configuredto acquire information about the locate operation and its environs,compare elements of acquired information to various criteria relating tofunctionality and/or use of the locating equipment, and/or one or moreenvironmental conditions proximate to the locating equipment and/or worksite in which it is being used, and provide one or more local alerts(e.g., visual, audible, and/or tactile indications) to a technician toindicate any detected out-of-tolerance conditions. Such locally detectedconditions also may be transmitted by intelligent locating equipment toone or more other pieces of intelligent locate equipment in the area,and or one or more remote computing devices, for further and/orcorroborative quality assessment or other analysis. In this fashion, ahost of quality assessment functionality may be facilitated at variousorganizational levels, and/or amongst multiple distributed computingresources.

In other aspects, any information acquired in connection with the locateoperation (e.g., electronic records acquired by intelligent locatingequipment, electronic manifests), as well as quality assessment results,may be archived (e.g., in a database and/or central data store, e.g.data store 144 of central server 110, or memory 956 of ASP server 950 inFIG. 12A) for future reference/access by various parties that may beinterested in such information (e.g., excavators, one-call centers,facility owners, locate contractors, municipalities, regulatoryauthorities, damage investigators/assessors, insurance companies, etc.).In particular, any information relating to an approved completed locaterequest ticket may be electronically transmitted and/or electronicallystored so as to provide a searchable, secure, and unalterable electronicrecord of the locate operation (e.g., using any of a variety ofconventionally available encryption algorithms, such as TripleDES/TDEA,or the Blowfish keyed symmetric block cipher—see encryption algorithm940 in FIG. 12A). Such an electronic record provides for improvedvisibility, quality control and audit capability for undergroundfacility locate operations.

In yet other embodiments, the workforce management application 145 ofthe central server 100 may include a positive response notificationcomponent 145C. Via execution of this component, at one or more pointsduring the processes discussed above, one or more “positive response”notifications indicating a status of the locate operation and/ordisposition of the technician, and/or more detailed information aboutthe progress of the locate operation, may be electronically transmittedand/or stored so as to inform at least one party associated withrequesting the operation of the status of the operation and/or detailsthereof. In one aspect, a requesting party may designate a particularformat, content, and/or method of receiving notifications regarding thelocate operation. In another aspect, the central server, via executionof the positive response notification component 145C, may generate andsend to a one-call center, and/or an excavator device (or any portal,such as a web page made available to a requesting part) acomputer-generated GUI may be provided to facilitate submission oflocate requests, generation of image information to indicate one or moredig areas on a digital image of a work site as part of a locate request,and/or selection of notifications and preferences for same. In yetanother aspect, a requesting party may provide an acknowledgement ofreceipt (e.g., a “return receipt”) for one or more receivednotifications. Additional details of the positive response notificationcomponent are discussed in U.S. non-provisional application Ser. No.12/703,313, filed on Feb. 10, 2010 under attorney docket no.D0687.70023US01, entitled “Methods, Apparatus, and Systems forExchanging Information Between Excavators and Other Entities Associatedwith Underground Facility Locate and Marking Operations,” whichapplication is hereby incorporated by reference herein.

VI. LOCATE PERSONNEL AND LOCATING EQUIPMENT

Multiple locate personnel 160 may be associated with facilities locatemanagement system 100. Locate personnel 160 may be, for example, locatetechnicians and/or quality control technicians. Each locate personnel160 may utilize a locate device 119, a marking device 120, and/or acombined locate and marking device (not shown), in combination with alocate personnel device 122 that has an electronic manifest (EM)application 164 installed thereon. As discussed above, in some exemplaryimplementations, conventional locate devices and conventional markingdevices may be employed, and the creation of an electronic manifest viathe electronic manifest application 164 may be an essentially manualprocess performed by the technician as part of completing a ticket. Inyet other implementations, intelligent locating equipment, e.g., one ormore of a locate device 119, a marking device 120, or a combined locateand marking device, which have a variety of data acquisition, processingand storage functionality, may be employed by the technician to performa locate operation. In this manner, the intelligent locating equipmentitself may provide a host of information relating to the locateoperation that can be used to facilitate automated or semi-automatedgeneration of an electronic manifest, and/or provide one or moreelectronic records of valuable information that may be included inand/or accompany a completed ticket. Examples of intelligent locatingequipment that may be employed in connection with various embodiments ofthe facilities locate management system described herein are discussedin U.S. non-provisional application Ser. No. 12/569,192, filed Sep. 29,2009 under attorney docket no. D0687.70010US01, entitled “Methods,Apparatus, and Systems for Generating Electronic Records of Locate andMarking Operations, and Combined Locate and Marking Apparatus for Same,”which application is incorporated herein by reference.

A. Locate Devices

As discussed above in connection with FIGS. 2A and 2B, locate device 119shown in FIG. 4 generally is an instrument for detecting the presence orabsence of facilities that are concealed in some manner, such as cablesand pipes that are located underground. An underground facility locatedevice is used to detect electromagnetic fields that are generated by adetection signal that is provided along the target facility. A signaldetected by the underground facility locate device indicates thepresence of the target facility.

In one embodiment, the locate device 119 may be an intelligent locatedevice, as illustrated in FIG. 9. In particular, locate device 119 maybe a global positioning system (GPS)-enabled electronic marking devicethat includes certain components for sensing and logging the operationsperformed therewith during a locate operation. Locate device 119 mayinclude a locate data algorithm 169 for processing the informationreceived and/or generated by locate device 119. For example, locate dataalgorithm 169 may be used for analyzing locate operations based onactuations of the locate device 119; for example, for each actuation oflocate device 119, certain information may be captured and logged thatmay be subsequently analyzed in order to render a recreation of thelocate operation. The information that is captured with each actuationmay include, but is not limited to, location information relating towhere one or more facilities are detected, characteristics of a magneticfield received/detected by one or more antennas of the locate device,and timestamp data. Further, locate device 119 is able to communicatethis information to other applications and instruments of facilitieslocate management system 100 via communications interface 139.

FIG. 9 illustrates a functional block diagram that shows additionaldetails of intelligent locate device 119. As shown in FIG. 9, the locatedevice may include a communication interface 139, memory 187 and aprocessing unit 189, as well as a locate data algorithm 169 (e.g., thatmay be stored in the memory and executed by the processing unit of themarking device).

Locate device 119 further includes one or more input devices 183, whichmay be any devices that are capable of returning useful information withrespect to an underground facility location application. By way ofexample, input devices 183 may include, but are not limited to, a timingsystem (e.g., for generating a timestamp), a location tracking system(e.g., GPS technology), an underground probe (e.g., for capturingaccurate facility location data by traversing the underground facility),survey apparatus, a temperature sensor, a humidity sensor, a lightsensor, a compass, an inclinometer, an accelerometer, a digital camera,an audio recorder, an illumination source, and one or more receiverantenna 185 to facilitate detection of magnetic fields generated byunderground facilities. Locate device 119 may also include controlsoftware (e.g., stored in the memory) for managing the overalloperations of the locate device 119. Additionally, the locate device mayinclude any device-specific control software or electronics for managinginput devices 183 and/or processing information from input devices 183.

The information that is returned from input devices 183, also referredto as “locate information,” may be processed and/or otherwise analyzedby use of locate data algorithm 169, and/or transmitted to the centralserver 110 via the network 126 for processing, analysis, and/or storage.In particular, locate data algorithm 169 may use the locate informationacquired from input devices 183 for analyzing locate operations andcreating an electronic record, in some instances in order to render arecreation of the locate operation. In one exemplary implementation, theprocessing unit of the locate device, executing the locate dataalgorithm, may generate locate information relating to the geographiclocation of detected facilities, and this location information may be inturn conveyed to other entities of the management system (e.g., to thelocate personnel device 122) via the communication interface 139 of thelocate device and the communication interface associated with the entity(e.g., the communication interface 140). Additional details of anintelligent locate device are described in U.S. non-provisionalapplication Ser. No. 12/704,087, filed Feb. 11, 2010 under attorneydocket no. D0687.70019US01, entitled “Locate Apparatus having EnhancedFeatures for Underground Facility Locate Operations, and AssociatedMethods and Systems,” which application is hereby incorporated byreference herein.

B. Marking Devices

As discussed above in connection with FIGS. 3A and 3B, marking device120 shown in FIG. 4 may be any device for dispensing the markingmaterial during an underground facility locate operation. Once thepresence of the target facility has been located via the undergroundfacility locate device 119, a marking device, such as marking device120, is used for dispensing the marking material onto the surface of theground at the location of the target facility.

In one embodiment, the marking device 120 is an intelligent markingdevice, in that it may be a global positioning system (GPS)-enabledelectronic marking device that includes certain mechanisms for sensingand logging the operations performed therewith during a locateoperation. With reference to FIG. 10, marking device 120 may include amarking data algorithm 162 for processing the information receivedand/or generated by marking device 120. For example, marking dataalgorithm 162 may be used for analyzing locate operations based onactuations of marking device 120; for each actuation of marking device120, such as for each actuation to dispense the marking material,certain information may be captured and logged that may be subsequentlyanalyzed in order to render a recreation of the locate operation. Theinformation that is captured with each actuation may include, but is notlimited to, location information relating to where a physical locatemark was applied to the dig area (geo-location data), timestamp data,information about the making material, such as color, that may becorrelated to the type of facility that is the target of the locateoperation, and so on. Further, marking device 120 is able to communicatethis information to other applications and instruments of facilitieslocate management system 100 via communications link 138.

Marking device 120 may be based, for example, on the marking device thatis described in the following U.S. published patent applications: U.S.publication no. 2008-0228294-A1, published Sep. 18, 2008, filed Mar. 13,2007, and entitled “Marking System and Method With Location and/or TimeTracking;” and U.S. publication no. 2008-0245299-A1, published Oct. 9,2008, filed Apr. 4, 2007, and entitled “Marking System and Method.” Inan alternative embodiment, the separate marking and locate devices(e.g., locate device 119 and marking device 120) may be replaced with acombination locate and marking device, as noted above.

FIG. 10 illustrates a functional block diagram that shows additionaldetails of marking device 120 that may be used in connection with oneembodiment of the facilities locate management system shown in FIG. 4.As illustrated in FIG. 10, the marking device 120 includes acommunication interface 138, memory 186 and a processing unit 184, aswell as a marking data algorithm 162 (e.g., that may be stored in thememory and executed by the processing unit of the marking device).

Marking device 120 further includes one or more input devices 182, whichmay be any devices that are capable of returning useful information withrespect to an underground facility location application. By way ofexample, input devices 182 may include, but are not limited to, a timingsystem (e.g., for generating a timestamp), a location tracking system(e.g., GPS technology), an underground probe (e.g., for capturingaccurate facility location data by traversing the underground facility),survey apparatus, a temperature sensor, a humidity sensor, a lightsensor, a compass, an inclinometer, an accelerometer, a digital camera,an audio recorder, an illumination source, and a marking materialdetection mechanism (e.g., radio-frequency identification (RFID)technology). Marking device 120 may also include control software (e.g.,stored in the memory) for managing the overall operations of markingdevice 120. Additionally, the marking device may include anydevice-specific control software or electronics for managing inputdevices 182 and/or processing information from input devices 182.

FIG. 10 also shows an identification-enabled (ID-enabled) markerdispenser 188 that is installed in marking device 120, which is thesource of the marking material that is dispensed by marking device 120.ID-enabled marker dispenser 188 may be an aerosol canister that containsa quantity of a commercially available marking material. In one example,the ID mechanism that is installed in or on ID-enabled marker dispenser188 may be an RFID tag that includes, for example, a serial numberand/or any other product information about the marking material. In thisexample, the marking material detection mechanism of input devices 182may include an RFID reader for extracting information about the markingmaterial that is being dispensed from marking device 120 that is encodedin the RFID tag. An example of this information may include, but is notlimited to, a serial number and/or product code, as well as colorinformation.

The information that is returned from input devices 182 of markingdevice 120 may be captured, for example, with each actuation of markingdevice 120, such as with, but not limited to, each actuation to dispensemarking material from ID-enabled marker dispenser 188. The informationthat is returned from input devices 182, which is hereafter referred toas “marking information,” may be processed and/or otherwise analyzed byuse of marking data algorithm 162. In particular, marking data algorithm162 may use the marking information from input devices 182 for analyzinglocate operations based on actuations of marking device 120 and in orderto render a recreation of the locate operation. In one exemplaryimplementation, the processing unit of the marking device, executing themarking data algorithm, may generate marking information relating to thegeographic location of locate marks that are applied to the dig area viathe marker dispenser 188, and this location information may be in turnconveyed to other entities of the management system (e.g., to the locatepersonnel device 122) via the communication interface 138 of the markingdevice 120 and the communication interface associated with the entity(e.g., the communication interface 140).

Additional details of an intelligent locate device are described in U.S.non-provisional application Ser. No. 12/703,958, filed Feb. 11, 2010under attorney docket no. D0687.70018US01, entitled “Marking Apparatushaving Enhanced Features for Underground Facility Marking Operations,and Associated Methods and Systems,” which application is herebyincorporated by reference herein.

C. Locate Personnel Devices

Locate personnel device 122 may be a computing device, such as portablecomputer, a personal computer, a tablet device, a PDA, a cellularradiotelephone, a mobile computing device, a touch-screen device, atouchpad device, or generally any device including, or connected to, aprocessor and a display. Preferably, locate personnel device 122 is aportable computing device, such as laptop computer, tablet device, smartphone, and the like.

As discussed above, an “Electronic Manifest” or “EM” application 164that resides on locate personnel device 122 may be a drawingapplication, which, in underground facility locate operations, may beused by locate personnel 160 as a locate operation “digital” markingtool to create a searchable electronic record of a locate operation.More specifically, EM application 164 may be used by locate personnel160 to add one or more electronic detection marks and/or electroniclocate marks (generally referred to as “locate mark indicators”) to adisplayed input image of the dig area in order to graphically depict(digitally represent) on the displayed image one or more detectedfacilities and/or physical locate marks applied to the dig area duringthe locate operation. In exemplary implementations, locate personnel 160may add such locate mark indicators to the displayed image via a userinput device associate with a display device displaying the image (e.g.,via a stylus, keyboard, touchpad, touch-screen, mouse, etc. associatedwith the locate personnel device 122). EM application 164 maysuperimpose over or otherwise display these locate mark indicators onany of a variety of input images (e.g., received from image server 112or facilities maps server 114), including input images that have beenpreviously marked-up with one or more dig area indicators as discussedabove. The locate mark indicators may include lines, grids, drawingshapes, shades, points, symbols, coordinates, data sets, or otherindicators to graphically depict the work performed in the locateoperation (i.e., the detection of one or more underground facilitiesand/or the physical marking of the dig area to indicate a presence or anabsence of one or more underground facilities).

Alternatively, EM application 164 may read in locate information and/ormarking information about the locate operation from locate device 119and/or marking device 120 (or a combined locate and marking device),which may then be rendered into a graphical (or other) depiction of thework performed in the locate operation. More specifically, informationprovided by locate device 119 and/or marking device 120 to the locatepersonnel device 122 (e.g., via communication link 140) may includegeographic information relating to a location of one or more detectedfacilities, and/or the applied physical locate mark(s), which isprocessed by EM application 164 to provide on an input image one or morelocate mark indicators to digitally represent the detection and/orphysical locate mark(s). Such a graphical depiction of the locateoperation may be superimposed over or otherwise displayed on the inputimage (which, as discussed above, may have been previously marked-upwith one or more dig area indicators). Additional details of locatepersonnel device 122 and the components thereof are described withreference to FIGS. 11A, 11B, and 11C.

In some locate operations, no underground facilities are determined tobe present in a designated dig area. Such locate operations aresometimes referred to as “clears.” In some implementations of theinventive concepts discussed herein, the EM application 164 maynonetheless be employed to provide an electronic record of a “clear;”more specifically, although no locate mark indicators may be added to aninput image (because there are no physical locate marks to digitallyrepresent), the EM application may be employed to provide otherinformation associated with the “clear” locate operation (e.g., atimestamp of when the locate operation was performed, an identifier fora technician or locate company performing the locate operation, a textaddress or other geographical identifier for the dig area, etc.) andthis other information may be associated with the input image (e.g., asa separate data set linked to the input image, as metadata, a combinedfile of image and non-image data, etc.) to create a searchableelectronic record that may be consulted to verify that the locateoperation was indeed completed, even though no underground facilitieswere found.

FIG. 11A illustrates a functional block diagram that shows more detailsof locate personnel device 122 of the facilities locate managementsystem of the present disclosure. FIG. 11A shows communication interface140 and EM application 164, which may be stored in memory and executedby a processing unit of the locate personnel device 122. Locatepersonnel device 122 may be used by locate personnel 160 in order toreceive a locate request ticket 168B that has an associated VWL image170. The locate request ticket 168B may originate from one-call center116 and may then be passed through central server 110 to a certainlocate personnel device 122 of a certain locate personnel 160. Thelocate request ticket 168B may be exchanged via network 126.

FIG. 11B illustrates an example of EM application 164 when in use onlocate personnel device 122 by, for example, a certain locate personnel160. In this example, locate personnel device 122 is a portable computerthat has EM application 164 executing thereon. FIG. 11B shows agraphical user interface (GUI) of EM application 164 that may bepresented to the user via the display of locate personnel device 122.More specifically, a certain VWL image 170 that corresponds to thecurrent locate request ticket 168B is read into EM application 164 anddisplayed on locate personnel device 122. The locate personnel 160 maythen use standard drawing tools (e.g., color pallet, lines, shapes,etc.) that are provided on the GUI of EM application 164 in orderelectronically to sketch one or more lines, grids, shapes, shades,points, symbols, coordinates, or other indicators in order to generate agraphical (or other) representation of the locate operation. Forexample, one or more locate mark indicators may be added to thedisplayed VWL image, via a user input device associated with the locatepersonnel device 122, to digitally represent one or more physical locatemarks that have been applied to the dig area based on the presence (orabsence) of an underground facility. As discussed above, in some locateoperations no underground facilities are detected; accordingly, in thecase of such “clears,” in some implementations the EM image 174 may notinclude any particular locate mark indicators.

In some implementations, as discussed above EM application 164 may readin locate information from locate device 119, and/or marking informationfrom marking device 120 Subsequently, EM application 164 may superimposeover or otherwise display this information on VWL image 170.

In either case, an EM image 174 is formed that shows the original VWLimage 170 and a representation of the locate operation marked thereon.Alternatively, in either case, the EM image 174 may be any input imagerepresented by source data 150, rather than a VWL image 170, that has arepresentation of the locate operation marked thereon, or perhaps nolocate mark indicators in the case of a “clear.”

FIG. 11C illustrates an example of an image that shows a graphicalrepresentation of the locate operation. For example, FIG. 11C shows EMapplication 164 and an example of an EM image 174 that is generated byuse of EM application 164 on locate personnel device 122. In thisexample, EM image 174 shows various types of underground facilitiesand/or various environmental landmarks as multiple locate markindicators that are superimposed on EM image 174. The differentiationbetween the different types of underground facilities and/or variousenvironmental landmarks may be indicated by color, shape, size,line-type, symbol-type, etc, of the respective locate mark indicators.For example, FIG. 11C shows a first underground facility type locatemark indicator 195, a second underground facility type locate markindicator 196, and a third underground facility type locate markindicator 197 that are superimposed on EM image 174. Additionally, FIG.11C shows an environmental landmark indicator 198 that is superimposedon EM image 174. FIG. 11C also illustrates a dig area indicator 180 toprovide an indication of the dig area in which the locate operation isperformed.

Referring again to FIG. 11A, having rendered an EM image 174 for thecurrent locate request ticket 168B, a completed ticket 172 may be savedon locate personnel device 122. The EM image 174 is associated with and,therefore, attached to completed ticket 172, which may then betransmitted to central server 110 for processing in order to initiate,for example, a quality control operation, an audit or any other form ofreview by approvers 148 using network 126. A local image cache 194 onlocate personnel device 122 may be used to store, for example, certainsource data 150, certain VWL images 170, and/or certain EM images 174.

VII. APPLICATION SERVICE PROVIDER MODELS

It should also be appreciated that the various functionalities describedherein in connection with inventive locate operation managementtechniques may be implemented as an application service provider (ASP)model. FIG. 12A shows various elements of such an ASP model 900, inwhich various entities 826 may access (e.g., via network 126, using oneor more networked computers 822 and a web browser 824) application tools910 and one or more information databases 920 operated and managed by anASP, so as to perform various aspects of locate operation management.For example, any one or more of the VWL applications 156 and 158, the EMapplication 164, the ticket approval application 146, the workforcemanagement application 145, as well as facilities maps 152, image sourcedata 150, locate requests/tickets 168A/168B, completed tickets 172,approved completed tickets 192, and any of the constituent image dataand non-image data described herein may be resident on one or more ASPservers 950 and available for access to a user/subscriber 826 of theASP. In various implementations, an ASP may be any of the entitiesdescribed herein most closely related to managing locate operations(e.g., excavators, one-call centers, locate companies), other entitieswith interests involving locate operations (e.g., utility companies,utility or other government regulators, insurance companies, etc.) orother entities.

In exemplary implementations of an ASP model 900, a user/subscriber 826may access the application tools 910 and information database(s) 920resident on ASP server(s) 950 (including at least one processing unit952, at least one communication interface 954, and at least one memory956) via a website using a log-in procedure 930 to facilitate secureaccess to the server(s) (e.g., via user name and password, etc.). Fees932 may be associated with access to the ASP website (e.g., on a peruse, multiple use, periodic use, or other basis). Users/subscribers 826may maintain information profiles 934 on the ASP server(s) 950 toidentify themselves and/or provide preferences for access to certainapplications/information database(s). The ASP also may maintaininformation in connection with such user/subscriber profiles relating toany selective access permissions 936 or restrictions regarding theavailable applications/information database(s). A user/subscriber accessprocedure may include information entry by a user/subscriber to providerelevant information to initiate a locate request (e.g., an excavatorproviding relevant information to begin a request), and also may includea search engine 938, such that the user/subscriber 826 may find relevantinformation based on a host of indicia associated with a locateoperation for which a locate request ticket already has been generated(address of dig area, ticket numbers, excavator and/or locate companyidentifiers, utility company identifiers, etc.).

From the foregoing, it should be readily appreciated that the variousinformation compiled during the locate operation management processdescribed herein, and particularly various stages of the locate requestticket and especially an approved completed locate request ticket, maybe readily generated and made readily available as searchable electronicrecords to significantly improve the execution of locate operations andthe integrity of such operations. More specifically, a database ofsearchable electronic records of locate operations facilitates auditingof such records by regulators, insurance companies, utility companies,and other parties to improve quality and efficiency of locateoperations.

FIG. 12B illustrates an example of an application service provider (ASP)model for implementing various aspects of locate operation managementsystem, apparatus and methods according to the present disclosure. Inthe example of FIG. 12B, a one-call center 810 serves as an ASP forproviding a VWL application server system 800, which may be accessed vianetwork 126 by users 826 (e.g., excavators) using a networked computer822 and a web browser 824. The one-call center 810 serving as an ASP mayoperate/manage an ASP server which provides a ticket creationapplication 812, a VWL drawing service 814 and creation screens 816(e.g., components of VWL applications 156 and 158), a VWL viewingapplication 818 and an image retrieval application 820. As noted above,users may access this ASP via a website and a login procedure, andgenerate, store and retrieve tickets including VWL images. While theexample of FIG. 12B is provided in the particular context of one-callcenters and VWL applications, as discussed above it should beappreciated that the ASP model may be extended to an entity providingone or more applications and or information storage capabilities germaneto the management of locate operations.

VIII. CONCLUSION

With respect to providing improved visibility, quality control, auditcapability and automation in underground facility locate operations andreferring to FIGS. 4 through 12A and 12B, the use of the VWL application(e.g., VWL application 156 and 158) avoids the ambiguity of verbaldescriptions of the planned geographic locations of the proposed digareas. For example, verbal descriptions may ultimately be reduced totext, which can be very imprecise as to exact physical locations. Bycontrast, the VWL application provides an accurate mechanism fordelimiting the proposed dig areas by providing an electronic sketch ofthe proposed dig areas via VWL images 170, which may be associated withand attached to the corresponding locate requests 168A. Additionally,the use of the VWL application provides a way to generate asubstantially permanent indication of the dig area as compared withphysical white lines that provide only a temporary indication of the digarea because physical white lines may deteriorate or be eliminated overtime. Network 126 provides a convenient means for exchanging locaterequest tickets 168B and the associated VWL images 170 between excavatordevices 118, onsite computer 124, one-call center 116, central server110, and locate personnel devices 122.

With respect to providing improved visibility, quality control, auditcapability and automation in underground facility locate operations andreferring to FIGS. 4 through 12A and 12B, image server 112 andfacilities maps server 114 provide back-end support to the process bysupplying a store of source data 150 and facilities maps 152,respectively, that may be conveniently accessed by any application offacilities locate management system 100 via network 126.

With respect to providing improved visibility, quality control, auditcapability and automation in underground facility locate operations andreferring to FIGS. 4 through 12A and 12B, central server 110 provides acentralized system management function for facilities locate managementsystem 100. In particular, central server 110 provides a centralizedentity through which information may be exchanged and processed.Additionally, ticket approval application 146 of central server 110provides a mechanism for collecting data associated with the fieldservice tickets, such as completed tickets 172, and reviewing the datathat is received for quality control or audit purposes in real timeand/or non-real time by approvers 148.

With respect to providing improved visibility, quality control, auditcapability and automation in underground facility locate operations andreferring to FIGS. 4 through 12A and 12B, locate device 119 and markingdevice 120 provides intelligent locating equipment by which informationabout the locate operation may be processed in order to generate anelectronic representation of the locate operation. Information collectedvia various intelligent locating equipment includes, but is not limitedto, timestamp information, geo-location information, marking materialinformation (e.g., color information that can be correlated to facilitytype), ambient temperature information, ambient humidity information,ambient light information, device heading information, angle of sprayinformation, motion information, digital image information, and audioinformation. The electronic representation of the locate operation mayindicate the geo-locations and types of facilities whose presence havebeen located via, for example, locate device 119 and then marked viamarking device 120. Additionally, the electronic representation of thelocate operation may indicate the geo-locations and types ofenvironmental landmarks that are present at the locate site. As aresult, the locate information provided by locate device 119, and/or themarking information provided by marking device 120, provides a mechanismfor easily and automatically generating an accurate representation ofthe current locate operation that is available in electronic form thatmay be transmitted via network 126 to any application or instrument offacilities locate management system 100 and used for verification of thecurrent locate operation.

In one example, with respect to providing improved visibility, qualitycontrol, audit capability and automation in underground facility locateoperations and referring to FIGS. 4 through 12A and 12B, EM application164 of locate personnel device 122 may read in the locate informationfrom the locate device 119, and/or the marking information from themarking device 120. Subsequently, this information may be used togenerate an EM image 174, which provides an accurate graphicalrepresentation of the locate operation. This EM image 174 of the currentlocate operation may then be transmitted along with its correspondingcompleted ticket 172 to ticket approval application 146 of centralserver 110. By use of ticket approval application 146, quality controland/or audit operations may occur for the current locate operation. Forexample, ticket approval application 146 allows one or more approvers148 to view the information of completed tickets 172 and the associatedEM images 174 and to assess the quality of the work performed in thefield. This assessment may be accomplished by different approvers inreal time and/or non-real time. When it is determined by one or moreapprovers 148 that the performance of a certain locate operation issatisfactory, the corresponding completed ticket 172 may be closed andno further action is required. However, when it is determined by one ormore approvers 148 that the quality of a certain locate operation is notsatisfactory, the corresponding completed ticket 172 may be referred forfurther quality control or other action, such as returning to the locatesite in order to investigate, correct and/or verify a certain issue ofthe locate operation.

Additionally, a feature of ticket approval application 146 and/or aseparate application of central server 110 may include the ability toassess locate operations with respect to historical records offacilities maps (e.g., facilities maps 152 of facilities maps server114). In one example, the assessment of locate operations with respectto historical facilities maps may be performed.

Additionally, a feature of ticket approval application 146 and/or aseparate application of central server 110 may include the ability toassess locate operations with respect to historical records of tickets(e.g., historical records of completed tickets 172 of central server110). In one example, the assessment of locate operations with respectto historical tickets may be performed.

Additionally, a feature of ticket approval application 146 and/or aseparate application of central server 110 may include the ability toassess locate operations with respect to historical records ofenvironmental landmarks (not shown). In one example, the assessment oflocate operations with respect to historical environmental landmarks maybe performed.

Referring again to FIGS. 4 through 2A and 12B, an aspect of thefacilities locate management system 100 of the present disclosure isthat it provides searchable, secure, and unalterable electronic recordsincluding image data and/or non-image data (e.g., one or more images,geographic coordinates for various features of a dig area, includingboundaries of the dig area and/or location of physical marks applied tothe dig area, text descriptions of the dig area, time stamp, technicianand locate company information, quality control and complianceinformation, etc.) as a record of work performed. These electronicrecords and images are inherently more accurate than current methods ofrecording activities that are associated with locate operations, such astextual descriptions. Additionally, a network is provided by whichelectronic records and images that are associated with an undergroundfacility locate operation are easily accessed by entities thereof. As aresult, improved quality control, automation, and operating efficiencyin underground facility locate operations may be achieved.

Referring again to FIGS. 4 through 12A and 12B, another aspect of thefacilities locate management system 100 of the present disclosure isthat it provides a convenient archive of searchable, secure andunalterable electronic records and images that are associated with anunderground facility locate operation. This convenient store ofelectronic records and images may be easily accessible, such as vianetwork 126, by entities of facilities locate management system 100,such as by excavators, one-call centers, facility owners, federal, stateor local regulators and underground facility locate service providers,in order to monitor and enforce quality control, audit performance ofrelevant customer-supplier agreements, audit compliance with applicablefederal, state and local regulations, inform planning, improve operatingefficiency, and so on. In one example, these electronic records andimages may be accessible for a limited period of time, such as the legalamount of time that is allowed before a new locate operation isrequired. For example, in certain regions and/or municipalities, thelegal allowable time before a new locate operation is required may beabout 2 weeks. In another example, these electronic records and imagesmay be stored on central server 110 or in data store 144 and madeaccessible via network 126 for any length of time. As also noted above,an ASP model may be useful for generating, maintaining and providingaccess to such electronic records.

Referring again to FIGS. 4 through 12A and 12B, yet another aspect ofthe facilities locate management system 100 of the present disclosure isthat it may provide a way to “certify” each step of the undergroundfacility locate process. For example, at the end of the process orduring each stage of the process, a supervisor of an undergroundfacility locate service provider and/or automated mechanisms of locatemanagement system 100 may certify a locate operation, which may mean,for example, that substantially all quality standards have been met.

While various inventive embodiments have been described and illustratedherein, those of ordinary skill in the art will readily envision avariety of other means and/or structures for performing the functionand/or obtaining the results and/or one or more of the advantagesdescribed herein, and each of such variations and/or modifications isdeemed to be within the scope of the inventive embodiments describedherein. More generally, those skilled in the art will readily appreciatethat all parameters, dimensions, materials, and configurations describedherein are meant to be exemplary and that the actual parameters,dimensions, materials, and/or configurations will depend upon thespecific application or applications for which the inventive teachingsis/are used. Those skilled in the art will recognize, or be able toascertain using no more than routine experimentation, many equivalentsto the specific inventive embodiments described herein. It is,therefore, to be understood that the foregoing embodiments are presentedby way of example only and that, within the scope of the appended claimsand equivalents thereto, inventive embodiments may be practicedotherwise than as specifically described and claimed. Inventiveembodiments of the present disclosure are directed to each individualfeature, system, article, material, kit, and/or method described herein.In addition, any combination of two or more such features, systems,articles, materials, kits, and/or methods, if such features, systems,articles, materials, kits, and/or methods are not mutually inconsistent,is included within the inventive scope of the present disclosure.

The above-described embodiments can be implemented in any of numerousways. For example, the embodiments may be implemented using hardware,software or a combination thereof. When implemented in software, thesoftware code can be executed on any suitable processor or collection ofprocessors, whether provided in a single computer or distributed amongmultiple computers.

Further, it should be appreciated that a computer may be embodied in anyof a number of forms, such as a rack-mounted computer, a desktopcomputer, a laptop computer, or a tablet computer. Additionally, acomputer may be embedded in a device not generally regarded as acomputer but with suitable processing capabilities, including a PersonalDigital Assistant (PDA), a smart phone or any other suitable portable orfixed electronic device.

Also, a computer may have one or more input and output devices. Thesedevices can be used, among other things, to present a user interface.Examples of output devices that can be used to provide a user interfaceinclude printers or display screens for visual presentation of outputand speakers or other sound generating devices for audible presentationof output. Examples of input devices that can be used for a userinterface include keyboards, and pointing devices, such as mice, touchpads, and digitizing tablets. As another example, a computer may receiveinput information through speech recognition or in other audible format.

Such computers may be interconnected by one or more networks in anysuitable form, including a local area network or a wide area network,such as an enterprise network, and intelligent network (IN) or theInternet. Such networks may be based on any suitable technology and mayoperate according to any suitable protocol and may include wirelessnetworks, wired networks or fiber optic networks.

Any of the computing devices discussed herein (e.g., servers, computers,locate personnel devices, marking devices, locate devices, excavatordevices, etc.) may include memory, one or more processing units (alsoreferred to herein simply as “processors”), one or more communicationinterfaces, one or more display units, and one or more user inputdevices. The memory may comprise any computer-readable media, and maystore computer instructions (also referred to herein as“processor-executable instructions”) for implementing the variousfunctionalities described herein. The processing unit(s) may be used toexecute the instructions. The communication interface(s) may be coupledto a wired or wireless network, bus, or other communication means andmay therefore allow the computing device to transmit communications toand/or receive communications from other devices. The display unit(s)may be provided, for example, to allow a user to view variousinformation in connection with execution of the instructions. The userinput device(s) may be provided, for example, to allow the user to makemanual adjustments, make selections, enter data or various otherinformation, and/or interact in any of a variety of manners with theprocessor during execution of the instructions.

The various methods or processes outlined herein may be coded assoftware that is executable on one or more processors that employ anyone of a variety of operating systems or platforms. Additionally, suchsoftware may be written using any of a number of suitable programminglanguages and/or programming or scripting tools, and also may becompiled as executable machine language code or intermediate code thatis executed on a framework or virtual machine.

In this respect, various inventive concepts may be embodied as acomputer readable storage medium (or multiple computer readable storagemedia) (e.g., a computer memory, one or more floppy discs, compactdiscs, optical discs, magnetic tapes, flash memories, circuitconfigurations in Field Programmable Gate Arrays or other semiconductordevices, or other non-transitory medium or tangible computer storagemedium) encoded with one or more programs that, when executed on one ormore computers or other processors, perform methods that implement thevarious embodiments of the invention discussed above. The computerreadable medium or media can be transportable, such that the program orprograms stored thereon can be loaded onto one or more differentcomputers or other processors to implement various aspects of thepresent invention as discussed above.

The terms “program” or “software” are used herein in a generic sense torefer to any type of computer code or set of computer-executableinstructions that can be employed to program a computer or otherprocessor to implement various aspects of embodiments as discussedabove. Additionally, it should be appreciated that according to oneaspect, one or more computer programs that when executed perform methodsof the present invention need not reside on a single computer orprocessor, but may be distributed in a modular fashion amongst a numberof different computers or processors to implement various aspects of thepresent invention.

Computer-executable instructions may be in many forms, such as programmodules, executed by one or more computers or other devices. Generally,program modules include routines, programs, objects, components, datastructures, etc. that perform particular tasks or implement particularabstract data types. Typically the functionality of the program modulesmay be combined or distributed as desired in various embodiments.

Also, data structures may be stored in computer-readable media in anysuitable form. For simplicity of illustration, data structures may beshown to have fields that are related through location in the datastructure. Such relationships may likewise be achieved by assigningstorage for the fields with locations in a computer-readable medium thatconvey relationship between the fields. However, any suitable mechanismmay be used to establish a relationship between information in fields ofa data structure, including through the use of pointers, tags or othermechanisms that establish relationship between data elements.

Also, various inventive concepts may be embodied as one or more methods,of which an example has been provided. The acts performed as part of themethod may be ordered in any suitable way. Accordingly, embodiments maybe constructed in which acts are performed in an order different thanillustrated, which may include performing some acts simultaneously, eventhough shown as sequential acts in illustrative embodiments.

All definitions, as defined and used herein, should be understood tocontrol over dictionary definitions, definitions in documentsincorporated by reference, and/or ordinary meanings of the definedterms.

The indefinite articles “a” and “an,” as used herein in thespecification and in the claims, unless clearly indicated to thecontrary, should be understood to mean “at least one.”

The phrase “and/or,” as used herein in the specification and in theclaims, should be understood to mean “either or both” of the elements soconjoined, i.e., elements that are conjunctively present in some casesand disjunctively present in other cases. Multiple elements listed with“and/or” should be construed in the same fashion, i.e., “one or more” ofthe elements so conjoined. Other elements may optionally be presentother than the elements specifically identified by the “and/or” clause,whether related or unrelated to those elements specifically identified.Thus, as a non-limiting example, a reference to “A and/or B”, when usedin conjunction with open-ended language such as “comprising” can refer,in one embodiment, to A only (optionally including elements other thanB); in another embodiment, to B only (optionally including elementsother than A); in yet another embodiment, to both A and B (optionallyincluding other elements); etc.

As used herein in the specification and in the claims, “or” should beunderstood to have the same meaning as “and/or” as defined above. Forexample, when separating items in a list, “or” or “and/or” shall beinterpreted as being inclusive, i.e., the inclusion of at least one, butalso including more than one, of a number or list of elements, and,optionally, additional unlisted items. Only terms clearly indicated tothe contrary, such as “only one of” or “exactly one of,” or, when usedin the claims, “consisting of,” will refer to the inclusion of exactlyone element of a number or list of elements. In general, the term “or”as used herein shall only be interpreted as indicating exclusivealternatives (i.e. “one or the other but not both”) when preceded byterms of exclusivity, such as “either,” “one of,” “only one of,” or“exactly one of.” “Consisting essentially of,” when used in the claims,shall have its ordinary meaning as used in the field of patent law.

As used herein in the specification and in the claims, the phrase “atleast one,” in reference to a list of one or more elements, should beunderstood to mean at least one element selected from any one or more ofthe elements in the list of elements, but not necessarily including atleast one of each and every element specifically listed within the listof elements and not excluding any combinations of elements in the listof elements. This definition also allows that elements may optionally bepresent other than the elements specifically identified within the listof elements to which the phrase “at least one” refers, whether relatedor unrelated to those elements specifically identified. Thus, as anon-limiting example, “at least one of A and B” (or, equivalently, “atleast one of A or B,” or, equivalently “at least one of A and/or B”) canrefer, in one embodiment, to at least one, optionally including morethan one, A, with no B present (and optionally including elements otherthan B); in another embodiment, to at least one, optionally includingmore than one, B, with no A present (and optionally including elementsother than A); in yet another embodiment, to at least one, optionallyincluding more than one, A, and at least one, optionally including morethan one, B (and optionally including other elements); etc.

In the claims, as well as in the specification above, all transitionalphrases such as “comprising,” “including,” “carrying,” “having,”“containing,” “involving,” “holding,” “composed of,” and the like are tobe understood to be open-ended, i.e., to mean including but not limitedto. Only the transitional phrases “consisting of” and “consistingessentially of” shall be closed or semi-closed transitional phrases,respectively, as set forth in the United States Patent Office Manual ofPatent Examining Procedures, Section 2111.03.

1. A system for managing information relating to locate and/or markingoperations, the system comprising: at least one communication interface;at least one memory to store processor-executable instructions and aplurality of electronic data records relating to the locate and/ormarking operations, wherein at least a first electronic data record ofthe plurality of electronic data records includes first qualityassessment information regarding a first locate and/or markingoperation; and at least one processing unit communicatively coupled tothe communication interface and the memory, wherein upon execution ofthe processor-executable instructions by the at least one processingunit, the at least one processing unit: A) controls the at least onecommunication interface and/or the at least one memory to electronicallytransmit and/or electronically store information relating to at leastone of the plurality of electronic data records pursuant to at least oneinformation access criterion to facilitate access to the information. 2.The system of claim 1, wherein the at least one information accesscriterion includes an encryption of the information, and wherein in A),the at least one processing unit further: A1) encrypts the informationrelating to the at least one of the plurality of electronic datarecords.
 3. The system of claim 2, wherein the at least one processingunit controls the at least one memory to electronically store theinformation, and wherein the at least one processing unit encrypts theinformation prior to storage in the memory.
 4. The system of claim 2,wherein the at least one processing unit controls the at least onecommunication interface to electronically transmit the information, andwherein the at least one processing unit encrypts the information priorto transmission of the information.
 5. The system of claim 2, whereinthe at least one processing unit implements the TripleDES/TDEAencryption algorithm to encrypt the information.
 6. The system of claim2, wherein the at least one processing unit implements the Blowfishkeyed symmetric block cipher to encrypt the information.
 7. The systemof claim 1, wherein the at least one information access criterionincludes an access time limit, and wherein in A), the at least oneprocessing unit further: controls the at least one communicationinterface and/or the at least one memory so as to allow access to theinformation relating to the at least one of the plurality of electronicdata records only for a limited time period.
 8. The system of claim 1,wherein the at least one information access criterion includes at leastone user identification criterion, and wherein in A), the at least oneprocessing unit further: controls the at least one communicationinterface and/or the at least one memory so as to allow access to theinformation relating to the at least one of the plurality of electronicdata records via a log-in procedure so as to facilitate secure access tothe information.
 9. The system of claim 8, wherein the memory furtherstores at least one user information profile including at least one username and at least one password.
 10. The system of claim 9, wherein theat least one user information profile further includes at least one of:user fee information for access to the information relating to the atleast one of the plurality of electronic data records; user preferenceinformation for access to the information relating to the at least oneof the plurality of electronic data records; and user permission and/oruser restriction information for access to the information relating tothe at least one of the plurality of electronic data records.
 11. Thesystem of claim 1, wherein the at least one information access criterionincludes an access fee, and wherein in A), the at least one processingunit further: controls the at least one communication interface and/orthe at least one memory so as to allow access to the informationrelating to the at least one of the plurality of electronic data recordsfor a fee.
 12. The system of claim 1, wherein the at least oneinformation access criterion includes one or more search indicia, andwherein in A), the at least one processing unit further: A1) controlsthe at least one communication interface so as to receive the one ormore search indicia; and A2) implements a search engine so as to provideaccess to and/or transmit, in response to A1), the information relatingto the at least one of the plurality of electronic data records.
 13. Thesystem of claim 1, wherein in A), the at least one processing unit:controls the at least one communication interface so as toelectronically communicate to at least one first party at least onenotification indicating at least one of: a status of one or more locateand/or marking operations; a disposition of one or more locatetechnicians; and at least some of the information relating to the atleast one of the plurality of electronic data records.
 14. The system ofclaim 13, wherein the at least one first party includes at least one of:a requesting party that requests the locate operation; a facility owner;a locate service provider/contractor a regulator; an auditor; aninsurer; a damage investigator; and an assessor.
 15. The system of claim13, wherein: the at least one notification is communicated to the atleast one first party on behalf of at least one second party associatedwith the locate operation; and the at least one notification includesreporting requirements for the at least one second party, the reportingrequirements regarding at least one of: activities of the at least onesecond party; facilities under a jurisdiction of the at least one secondparty; and geographic areas under the jurisdiction of the at least onesecond party.
 16. The system of claim 15, wherein the at least onesecond party includes at least one of: an excavator; a one-call center;a locate service provider/contractor; and a facility owner.
 17. Thesystem of claim 16, wherein the at least one first party includes atleast one of: a requesting party that requests the locate operation; aregulator; an auditor; an insurer; a damage investigator; and anassessor.
 18. The system of claim 13, wherein the at least oneprocessing unit further controls the at least one communicationinterface so as to receive at least one acknowledgement of receipt ofthe at least one notification.
 19. The system of claim 1, wherein thefirst electronic data record further includes at least one of: amarked-up image of a geographic area including a dig area in which thefirst locate and/or marking operation is at least partially performed,the marked-up image including at least one dig area indicator to providean indication of the dig area; and geographic information relating tothe at least one dig area indicator.
 20. The system of claim 1, whereinthe first electronic data record further includes ticket assessmentinformation relating to a locate request ticket pursuant to which thefirst locate and/or marking operation is at least partially performed.21. The system of claim 20, wherein the ticket assessment informationrelates to one or more of a scope of work, a complexity, a performancetime, a risk, a business value, and a technician skill or certificationrequirement associated with the first locate and/or marking operation.22. The system of claim 1, wherein the first electronic data recordfurther includes technician allocation and/or technician schedulinginformation relating to the first locate and/or marking operation. 23.The system of claim 1, wherein the first electronic data record furtherincludes process guide information relating to at least one processguide for performing the first locate and/or marking operation.
 24. Thesystem of claim 1, wherein the first electronic data record furtherincludes at least one of: field information relating to the first locateand/or marking operation as at least partially performed; andenvironmental information relating to a dig area and/or a work site atwhich the first locate and/or marking operation is at least partiallyperformed.
 25. The system of claim 24, wherein the field informationincludes at least one of: locate information relating to detecting apresence or an absence of the at least one underground facility; markinginformation relating to marking the presence of the absence of the atleast one underground facility; and landmark information relating to atleast one landmark present in or proximate to the dig area or the worksite.
 26. The system of claim 24, wherein the field information includesat least one of: a timestamp for the first locate and/or markingoperation; geographic information associated with the dig area and/orthe work site; and at least one identifier for a locate technician andor a locate company.
 27. The system of claim 24, wherein the fieldinformation includes at least one electronic manifest for the firstlocate and/or marking operation.
 28. The system of claim 27, wherein theelectronic manifest includes at least one digital image of at least aportion of the dig area or the work site.
 29. The system of claim 28,wherein the at least one digital image includes at least one dig areaindicator.
 30. The system of claim 24, wherein the first electronic datarecord further includes at least one completed locate request ticketrelating to the first locate and/or marking operation.
 31. The system ofclaim 24, wherein the environmental information comprises weatherconditions or traffic conditions relating to the dig area or work siteand/or access to the dig area or work site.
 32. The system of claim 1,wherein the first quality assessment information relates to at least oneof a completeness, an accuracy, and an efficiency of the first locateand/or marking operation.
 33. The system of claim 1, wherein the firstquality assessment information includes an indication of approval if thefirst locate and/or marking operation complies with a predeterminedquality standard.
 34. The system of claim 1, wherein the first qualityassessment information includes comparison results from comparing fieldinformation relating to the first locate and/or marking operation as atleast partially performed to reference information, wherein thereference information includes at least one of: first informationderived from or relating to one or more facilities maps; secondinformation derived from or relating to one or more previous locateand/or marking operations; and third information relating to one or moreenvironmental landmarks in or proximate to a dig area and/or work siteat which the first locate and/or marking operation is at least partiallyperformed.
 35. The system of claim 34, wherein the first electronic datarecord further includes the field information, and wherein the fieldinformation includes at least one of: locate information relating todetecting a presence or an absence of the at least one undergroundfacility; marking information relating to marking the presence of theabsence of the at least one underground facility; and landmarkinformation relating to at least one landmark present in or proximate tothe dig area or the work site.
 36. The system of claim 35, wherein thefirst electronic data record further includes the reference information.37. A computer-implemented method for managing information relating tolocate and/or marking operations, the information comprising a pluralityof electronic data records relating to the locate and/or markingoperations, wherein at least a first electronic data record of theplurality of electronic data records includes first quality assessmentinformation regarding a first locate and/or marking operation, themethod comprising: A) electronically transmitting and/or electronicallystoring information relating to at least the first electronic datarecord pursuant to at least one information access criterion tofacilitate secure access to the information.
 38. The method of claim 37,wherein the at least one information access criterion includes anencryption of the information, and wherein A) comprises: A1) encryptingthe information relating to the at least one of the plurality ofelectronic data records.
 39. The method of claim 38, wherein A)comprises electronically storing the information, and wherein encryptingthe information occurs before storing the information.
 40. The method ofclaim 38, wherein A) comprises electronically transmitting theinformation, and wherein encrypting the information occurs beforetransmitting the information.
 41. The method of claim 38, wherein A1)comprises: implementing the TripleDES/TDEA encryption algorithm toencrypt the information.
 42. The method of claim 38, wherein A1)comprises: implementing the Blowfish keyed symmetric block cipher toencrypt the information.
 43. The method of claim 37, wherein the atleast one information access criterion includes an access time limit,and wherein A) comprises: allowing access to the information relating tothe at least one of the plurality of electronic data records only for alimited time period.
 44. The method of claim 37, wherein the at leastone information access criterion includes at least one useridentification criterion, and wherein A) comprises: allowing access tothe information relating to the at least one of the plurality ofelectronic data records via a log-in procedure so as to facilitatesecure access to the information.
 45. The method of claim 44, furthercomprising: storing at least one user information profile including atleast one user name and at least one password.
 46. The method of claim45, wherein the at least one user information profile further includesat least one of: user fee information for access to the informationrelating to the at least one of the plurality of electronic datarecords; user preference information for access to the informationrelating to the at least one of the plurality of electronic datarecords; and user permission and/or user restriction information foraccess to the information relating to the at least one of the pluralityof electronic data records.
 47. The method of claim 37, wherein the atleast one information access criterion includes an access fee, andwherein A) comprises: allowing access to the information relating to theat least one of the plurality of electronic data records for a fee. 48.The method of claim 37, wherein the at least one information accesscriterion includes one or more search indicia, and wherein A) comprises:A1) receiving the one or more search indicia; and A2) implementing asearch engine so as to provide access to and/or transmit, in response toA1), the information relating to the at least one of the plurality ofelectronic data records.
 49. The method of claim 37, wherein A)comprises: electronically communicating to at least one first party atleast one notification indicating at least one of: a status of one ormore locate and/or marking operations; a disposition of one or morelocate technicians; and at least some of the information relating to theat least one of the plurality of electronic data records.
 50. The methodof claim 49, wherein the at least one first party includes at least oneof: a requesting party that requests the locate operation; a facilityowner; a locate service provider/contractor a regulator; an auditor; aninsurer; a damage investigator; and an assessor.
 51. The method of claim49, wherein: the at least one notification is communicated to the atleast one first party on behalf of at least one second party associatedwith the locate operation; and the at least one notification includesreporting requirements for the at least one second party, the reportingrequirements regarding at least one of: activities of the at least onesecond party; facilities under a jurisdiction of the at least one secondparty; and geographic areas under the jurisdiction of the at least onesecond party.
 52. The method of claim 51, wherein the at least onesecond party includes at least one of: an excavator; a one-call center;a locate service provider/contractor; and a facility owner.
 53. Themethod of claim 52, wherein the at least one first party includes atleast one of: a requesting party that requests the locate operation; aregulator; an auditor; an insurer; a damage investigator; and anassessor.
 54. The method of claim 49, further comprising: receiving atleast one acknowledgement of receipt of the at least one notification.55. The method of claim 37, wherein the first electronic data recordfurther includes at least one of: a marked-up image of a geographic areaincluding a dig area in which the first locate and/or marking operationis at least partially performed, the marked-up image including at leastone dig area indicator to provide an indication of the dig area; andgeographic information relating to the at least one dig area indicator.56. The method of claim 37, wherein the first electronic data recordfurther includes ticket assessment information relating to a locaterequest ticket pursuant to which the first locate and/or markingoperation is at least partially performed.
 57. The method of claim 56,wherein the ticket assessment information relates to one or more of ascope of work, a complexity, a performance time, a risk, a businessvalue, and a technician skill or certification requirement associatedwith the first locate and/or marking operation.
 58. The method of claim37, wherein the first electronic data record further includes technicianallocation and/or technician scheduling information relating to thefirst locate and/or marking operation.
 59. The method of claim 37,wherein the first electronic data record further includes process guideinformation relating to at least one process guide for performing thefirst locate and/or marking operation.
 60. The method of claim 37,wherein the first electronic data record further includes at least oneof: field information relating to the first locate and/or markingoperation as at least partially performed; and environmental informationrelating to a dig area and/or a work site at which the first locateand/or marking operation is at least partially performed.
 61. The methodof claim 60, wherein the field information includes at least one of:locate information relating to detecting a presence or an absence of theat least one underground facility; marking information relating tomarking the presence of the absence of the at least one undergroundfacility; and landmark information relating to at least one landmarkpresent in or proximate to the dig area or the work site.
 62. The methodof claim 60, wherein the field information includes at least one of: atimestamp for the first locate and/or marking operation; geographicinformation associated with the dig area and/or the work site; and atleast one identifier for a locate technician and or a locate company.63. The method of claim 60, wherein the field information includes atleast one electronic manifest for the first locate and/or markingoperation.
 64. The method of claim 63, wherein the electronic manifestincludes at least one digital image of at least a portion of the digarea or the work site.
 65. The method of claim 64, wherein the at leastone digital image includes at least one dig area indicator.
 66. Themethod of claim 60, wherein the first electronic data record furtherincludes at least one completed locate request ticket relating to thefirst locate and/or marking operation.
 67. The method of claim 60,wherein the environmental information comprises weather conditions ortraffic conditions relating to the dig area or work site and/or accessto the dig area or work site.
 68. The method of claim 37, wherein thefirst quality assessment information relates to at least one of acompleteness, an accuracy, and an efficiency of the first locate and/ormarking operation.
 69. The method of claim 37, wherein the first qualityassessment information includes an indication of approval if the firstlocate and/or marking operation complies with a predetermined qualitystandard.
 70. The method of claim 37, wherein the first qualityassessment information includes comparison results from comparing fieldinformation relating to the first locate and/or marking operation as atleast partially performed to reference information, wherein thereference information includes at least one of: first informationderived from or relating to one or more facilities maps; secondinformation derived from or relating to one or more previous locateand/or marking operations; and third information relating to one or moreenvironmental landmarks in or proximate to a dig area and/or work siteat which the first locate and/or marking operation is at least partiallyperformed.
 71. The method of claim 70, wherein the first electronic datarecord further includes the field information, and wherein the fieldinformation includes at least one of: locate information relating todetecting a presence or an absence of the at least one undergroundfacility; marking information relating to marking the presence of theabsence of the at least one underground facility; and landmarkinformation relating to at least one landmark present in or proximate tothe dig area or the work site.
 72. The method of claim 71, wherein thefirst electronic data record further includes the reference information.73. At least one computer-readable storage medium encoded withprocessor-executable instructions that, when executed on at least oneprocessing unit, perform a method for managing information relating tolocate and/or marking operations, the information comprising a pluralityof electronic data records relating to the locate and/or markingoperations, wherein at least a first electronic data record of theplurality of electronic data records includes first quality assessmentinformation regarding a first locate and/or marking operation, themethod comprising: A) electronically transmitting and/or electronicallystoring information relating to at least one of the plurality ofelectronic data records pursuant to at least one information accesscriterion to facilitate secure access to the information.